By using this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use. Close

Forums - Gaming - Prediction: PS6 won't sell over 50 million units lifetime.

 

How many PS6's will be sold lifetime?

Over 100 million. 8 10.67%
 
90 million to 100 million. 8 10.67%
 
80 million to 89 million 8 10.67%
 
70 million to 79 million 11 14.67%
 
60 million to 69 million 6 8.00%
 
50 million to 59 million 7 9.33%
 
40 million to 49 million 15 20.00%
 
30 million to 39 million 5 6.67%
 
20 million to 29 million 1 1.33%
 
under 20 million 6 8.00%
 
Total:75
Kyuu said:
Hardstuck-Platinum said:

I didn't miss that part. I just don't believe in generations being an arbitrary time limit that ends when a new console is launched. 

If the PS5 is MORE powerful than the PS6 handheld (which we are certain it is because the power saving mode is just a compatibility layer for PS6P) then it's not backwards compatible is it? Backwards compatible is when new hardware runs games from weaker older hardware. The PS5 will probably run all games even better than PS6P does. Doesn't fit the definition of backwards compatibility. 

The PS6P will be more powerful than PS5 for new games. It (unless downgraded) will have more RAM, more advanced technology, and much better ML and RT hardware. For unpatched existing games, it'll be weaker than PS5. For furure games, it may be notably better.

Also, "power" alone doesn't decide support. The Switch 1 was a lot weaker than PS4 and yet several games available on Switch and PS5 skipped the PS4. And if Sony mandates the handheld as a PS6, developers will be forced to either support it or skip it together with the home console. Microsoft and Sony didn't allow developers to support PS4 Pro, PS5 Pro, One X, and Series X without also supporting the base system. This is why not a single game exists that is crossgen with only PS4 Pro or One X

You think a 10W handheld can outperform a 220W PS5? It might get close in terms of image quality but that's only because it will have PSSR and PS5 doesn't. We already know it won't outperform it because we know the power save mode is just a secret compatibility layer for the handheld system, and PS5 is significantly less performant in power save mode. 

I know power alone doesn't decide support. Didn't mean for it to sound like that. I think that whole last paragraph paragraph doesn't really apply because I'm pretty certain that next gen the PS5 will still be main target platform throughout the entire gen. Sony had an incentive to stop PS4 support because it had bottlenecks like Slow HDD and terrible CPU. PS5 has no bottlenecks. The new Playstations will just be additions to the PS5. They'll take the PS5 version and scale it down for the PS6P and scale it up for the PS6 professional or whatever it'll be called.



Around the Network
Hardstuck-Platinum said:
Kyuu said:

The PS6P will be more powerful than PS5 for new games. It (unless downgraded) will have more RAM, more advanced technology, and much better ML and RT hardware. For unpatched existing games, it'll be weaker than PS5. For furure games, it may be notably better.

Also, "power" alone doesn't decide support. The Switch 1 was a lot weaker than PS4 and yet several games available on Switch and PS5 skipped the PS4. And if Sony mandates the handheld as a PS6, developers will be forced to either support it or skip it together with the home console. Microsoft and Sony didn't allow developers to support PS4 Pro, PS5 Pro, One X, and Series X without also supporting the base system. This is why not a single game exists that is crossgen with only PS4 Pro or One X

You think a 10W handheld can outperform a 220W PS5? It might get close in terms of image quality but that's only because it will have PSSR and PS5 doesn't. We already know it won't outperform it because we know the power save mode is just a secret compatibility layer for the handheld system, and PS5 is significantly less performant in power save mode. 

I know power alone doesn't decide support. Didn't mean for it to sound like that. I think that whole last paragraph paragraph doesn't really apply because I'm pretty certain that next gen the PS5 will still be main target platform throughout the entire gen. Sony had an incentive to stop PS4 support because it had bottlenecks like Slow HDD and terrible CPU. PS5 has no bottlenecks. The new Playstations will just be additions to the PS5. They'll take the PS5 version and scale it down for the PS6P and scale it up for the PS6 professional or whatever it'll be called.

Power saver mode doesn't tell us anything about the handheld's true capabilities. Power Saver serves as a quick and easy patch to make older games playable in an acceptable form on the handheld with minimal effort from developers. It's for the developers that don't wanna go through the headache of patching their old games in a way that takes full advantage of the handheld's feature set. Without the feature set being used to the max, PS6P is a lot weaker than a PS5. But future games will use the feature set which it shares with the standard PS6. To many developers, reworking on old games just isn't worth the effort.

If you wanna get a sense on how the handheld will fare against PS5, look no further than Switch 2. The Switch 2 is holding its own against PS5's image quality in some instances due to DLSS vs crappy spacial upscalers, and is crushing the Series S. Where it struggles is the CPU which is weaker than SteamDeck's. PS6P's CPU is reportedly a lot more capable than SteamDeck's. And GPU-wise, roughly: RDNA5 (PS6) > Blackwell > Lovelace > RDNA4 > Ampere (Switch 2) > RDNA3 = Turing > RDNA2 (PS5/SteamDeck). Feature-wise, PS6 is a genuine generational jump. PS5 missed the Machine Learning revolution.

When the full feature set is used, the PS6P will punch far above its weight just like the Switch 2. At worst, PS6P vs PS5 will play out like Switch 2 vs Series S, provided no downgrades are made.


You're probably right on PS5 being supported throughout the entire PS6 generation, but at some point in the future many developers will abandon it. Old technology doesn't last forever. It's early to say what Sony intend to do with their next handheld though, so we're just speculating. I wouldn't put it past them to mandate it as part of the PS6 family only to then remove the mandate sometime during the next generation.

Last edited by Kyuu - on 04 July 2026

Kyuu said:
Hardstuck-Platinum said:

You think a 10W handheld can outperform a 220W PS5? It might get close in terms of image quality but that's only because it will have PSSR and PS5 doesn't. We already know it won't outperform it because we know the power save mode is just a secret compatibility layer for the handheld system, and PS5 is significantly less performant in power save mode. 

I know power alone doesn't decide support. Didn't mean for it to sound like that. I think that whole last paragraph paragraph doesn't really apply because I'm pretty certain that next gen the PS5 will still be main target platform throughout the entire gen. Sony had an incentive to stop PS4 support because it had bottlenecks like Slow HDD and terrible CPU. PS5 has no bottlenecks. The new Playstations will just be additions to the PS5. They'll take the PS5 version and scale it down for the PS6P and scale it up for the PS6 professional or whatever it'll be called.

Power saver mode doesn't tell us anything about the handheld's true capabilities. Power Saver serves as a quick and easy patch to make older games playable in an acceptable form on the handheld with minimal effort from developers. It's for the developers that don't wanna go through the headache of patching their old games in a way that takes full advantage of the handheld's feature set. Without the feature set being used to the max, PS6P is a lot weaker than a PS5. But future games will use the feature set which it shares with the standard PS6. To many developers, reworking on old games just isn't worth the effort.

If you wanna get a sense on how the handheld will fare against PS5, look no further than Switch 2. The Switch 2 is holding its own against PS5's image quality in some instances due to DLSS vs crappy spacial upscalers, and is crushing the Series S. Where it struggles is the CPU which is weaker than SteamDeck's. PS6P's CPU is reportedly a lot more capable than SteamDeck's. And GPU-wise, roughly: RDNA5 (PS6) > Blackwell > Lovelace > RDNA4 > Ampere (Switch 2) > RDNA3 = Touring > RDNA2 (PS5/SteamDeck). Feature-wise, PS6 is a genuine generational jump. PS5 missed the Machine Learning revolution.

When the full feature set is used, the PS6P will punch far above its weight just like the Switch 2. At worst, PS6P vs PS5 will play out like Switch 2 vs Series S, provided no downgrades are made.


You're probably right on PS5 being supported throughout the entire PS6 generation, but at some point in the future many developers will abandon it. Old technology doesn't last forever. It's early to say what Sony intend to do with their next handheld though, so we're just speculating. I wouldn't put it past them to mandate it as part of the PS6 family only to then remove the mandate sometime during the next generation.

Depends on what Zen5/6 and RDNA 5 is truly capable of. Also depends on what node the chips are using and what the node is capable of. 

Games built specifically for the handheld (10th gen) should match if not exceed PS5 most of the time. Maybe not in all ways but overall it should.

PS5 will only be supported throughout all of 10th gen if the handheld is too costly and it's not subsidized (enough). If SNY makes a PS6 Lite console, and especially if they subsidize it, they'll discontinue PS5 relatively quickly.



PS1   - ! - We must build a console that can alert our enemies.

PS2  - @- We must build a console that offers online living room gaming.

PS3   - #- We must build a console that’s powerful, social, costs and does everything.

PS4   - $- We must build a console that’s affordable, charges for services, and pumps out exclusives.

PRO  -%-We must build a console that's VR ready, checkerboard upscales, and sells but a fraction of the money printer.

PS5   - ^ -We must build a console that’s a generational cross product, with RT lighting, and price hiking.

PRO  -&- We must build a console that Super Res upscales and continues the cost increases.

With a portable? Crazy talk all signs point to sony switching to mobile. If the portable comes in $100 more than NS2 then PS6 is crossing 90 million.



EricHiggin said:
Kyuu said:

Power saver mode doesn't tell us anything about the handheld's true capabilities. Power Saver serves as a quick and easy patch to make older games playable in an acceptable form on the handheld with minimal effort from developers. It's for the developers that don't wanna go through the headache of patching their old games in a way that takes full advantage of the handheld's feature set. Without the feature set being used to the max, PS6P is a lot weaker than a PS5. But future games will use the feature set which it shares with the standard PS6. To many developers, reworking on old games just isn't worth the effort.

If you wanna get a sense on how the handheld will fare against PS5, look no further than Switch 2. The Switch 2 is holding its own against PS5's image quality in some instances due to DLSS vs crappy spacial upscalers, and is crushing the Series S. Where it struggles is the CPU which is weaker than SteamDeck's. PS6P's CPU is reportedly a lot more capable than SteamDeck's. And GPU-wise, roughly: RDNA5 (PS6) > Blackwell > Lovelace > RDNA4 > Ampere (Switch 2) > RDNA3 = Touring > RDNA2 (PS5/SteamDeck). Feature-wise, PS6 is a genuine generational jump. PS5 missed the Machine Learning revolution.

When the full feature set is used, the PS6P will punch far above its weight just like the Switch 2. At worst, PS6P vs PS5 will play out like Switch 2 vs Series S, provided no downgrades are made.


You're probably right on PS5 being supported throughout the entire PS6 generation, but at some point in the future many developers will abandon it. Old technology doesn't last forever. It's early to say what Sony intend to do with their next handheld though, so we're just speculating. I wouldn't put it past them to mandate it as part of the PS6 family only to then remove the mandate sometime during the next generation.

Depends on what Zen5/6 and RDNA 5 is truly capable of. Also depends on what node the chips are using and what the node is capable of. 

Games built specifically for the handheld (10th gen) should match if not exceed PS5 most of the time. Maybe not in all ways but overall it should.

PS5 will only be supported throughout all of 10th gen if the handheld is too costly and it's not subsidized (enough). If SNY makes a PS6 Lite console, and especially if they subsidize it, they'll discontinue PS5 relatively quickly.

PS5 support isn't ending anytime soon. PS6 is going to be expensive and will struggle to sell, as will all midrange and highend hardware including PC and handhelds. It's not realistic to expect developers to drop PS5 level hardware, bearing in mind next gen's expected market condition.

PS6's extra power will mostly be used for framerate and advanced RayTracing or PathTracing. Turning off RT alone is enough to make PS6 games scalable to PS5 and weaker hardware.

Unless Chinese companies manage to dramatically expand and replace the usual RAM manufacturers as Sony's and AMD's partners, hardware across the board is doomed, and even the Switch 2 might struggle to hit 80 million in the worst case scenario. A $600-$650 Switch 2 could be in a world of hurt. Its new weekly baseline in Japan is currently around 25k and it only cost $370 over there.

Honestly, I just don't care about the next generation that much regardless of pricing. Current hardware is plenty capable and the combined installbase is large enough to keep the market healthy for a long time. People complain all the time about how bad it is to chase graphics, so perhaps they should celeberate this development!



Around the Network
Kyuu said:
EricHiggin said:

Depends on what Zen5/6 and RDNA 5 is truly capable of. Also depends on what node the chips are using and what the node is capable of. 

Games built specifically for the handheld (10th gen) should match if not exceed PS5 most of the time. Maybe not in all ways but overall it should.

PS5 will only be supported throughout all of 10th gen if the handheld is too costly and it's not subsidized (enough). If SNY makes a PS6 Lite console, and especially if they subsidize it, they'll discontinue PS5 relatively quickly.

PS5 support isn't ending anytime soon. PS6 is going to be expensive and will struggle to sell, as will all midrange and highend hardware including PC and handhelds. It's not realistic to expect developers to drop PS5 level hardware, bearing in mind next gen's expected market condition.

PS6's extra power will mostly be used for framerate and advanced RayTracing or PathTracing. Turning off RT alone is enough to make PS6 games scalable to PS5 and weaker hardware.

Unless Chinese companies manage to dramatically expand and replace the usual RAM manufacturers as Sony's and AMD's partners, hardware across the board is doomed, and even the Switch 2 might struggle to hit 80 million in the worst case scenario. A $600-$650 Switch 2 could be in a world of hurt. Its new weekly baseline in Japan is currently around 25k and it only cost $370 over there.

Honestly, I just don't care about the next generation that much regardless of pricing. Current hardware is plenty capable and the combined installbase is large enough to keep the market healthy for a long time. People complain all the time about how bad it is to chase graphics, so perhaps they should celeberate this development!

If that's how things turn out then yes, next gen it going to be in a world of hurt as you say.

There's nothing wrong with chasing frames or fidelity on consoles, as long as it can be done cost effectively so the masses can take part. If they can't do that next gen mostly with software, then it's not going to work because hardware is too costly these days.



PS1   - ! - We must build a console that can alert our enemies.

PS2  - @- We must build a console that offers online living room gaming.

PS3   - #- We must build a console that’s powerful, social, costs and does everything.

PS4   - $- We must build a console that’s affordable, charges for services, and pumps out exclusives.

PRO  -%-We must build a console that's VR ready, checkerboard upscales, and sells but a fraction of the money printer.

PS5   - ^ -We must build a console that’s a generational cross product, with RT lighting, and price hiking.

PRO  -&- We must build a console that Super Res upscales and continues the cost increases.

loy310 said:

With a portable? Crazy talk all signs point to sony switching to mobile. If the portable comes in $100 more than NS2 then PS6 is crossing 90 million.

Not gonna happen. The portable has the SOC manufactured with 3nm process. The screen will probably be expensive in comparison to Switch 2, as well. And the most expensive parts are NAND storage and 24 GB of Ram. If they launch the portable in 2028, the price should be around $799 to not lose too much money on each unit. Unlike Switch 2, the software won't be optimized that much for portable form factor. And factoring potential crisis in the world the portable is not enough to save PS brand.

I know that it might be disappointing, but Sony had a good run as a console manufacturer. The market has shifted to PC and unique experiences. The PlayStation will be a relic of the past in next decade due to mismanagement and Sony having no coherent vision for the future of gaming.



Nah; even if the console cost between $1,000 and $1,500, I think they would sell at least 100 million, but the shareholders will consider this numbers lower than expected... I mean, MUCH lower.



SteamMyAnimeList and Twitter - PSN: Gustavo_Valim - Switch FC: 6390-8693-0129 (=^・ω・^=)

Shikamo said:

Nah; even if the console cost between $1,000 and $1,500, I think they would sell at least 100 million, but the shareholders will consider this numbers lower than expected... I mean, MUCH lower.

Nah, if it's $1000 or more, no way they are selling 100 million, look how much PS5 is struggling now at just $650.



Shikamo said:

Nah; even if the console cost between $1,000 and $1,500, I think they would sell at least 100 million, but the shareholders will consider this numbers lower than expected... I mean, MUCH lower.

A $1000 console would be lucky to sell 30m, especially with PS5 already having a strong userbase people would simply not upgrade. Gaming is an extremely casual hobby for many, I think you'll be shocked by how many people would comfortably skip a generation if it doesn't excite them. That would only be compounded by the fact that Developers will simply follow where the userbase is and keep supporting PS5