PlayStation 5 entering the 'latter stage' of its life cycle already, Sony confirms

You may not consider your PlayStation 5 to be ‘middle-aged’ but Sony certainly does. The company has now declared that the console is entering the latter stages of its lifecycle.

It’s somewhat to be expected. The PlayStation 5 may feel like a shiny new toy, but if you look at the lifecycle of previous PlayStation consoles, three years is about right for the halfway mark. The PlayStation era lasted for five years and three months, followed by the PlayStation 2 which reigned for six years and eight months. The PlayStation 3 era went on for seven years, while the PlayStation 4 era lasted for exactly seven years too. Well if the PS5 is three years and two months old, you can see how we’re speeding ahead on a downhill slope leading towards the PlayStation 6.

2025 will bring PS5 owners Death Stranding 2: On The Beach.

In a recent earnings call, Sony senior vice president Naomi Matsuoka said (via The Malaysian Reserve), “Looking ahead, PS5 will enter the latter stage of its life cycle. As such, we will put more emphasis on the balance between profitability and sales. For this reason, we expect the annual sales pace of PS5 hardware will start falling from the next fiscal year.” It’s impressive that three years on, the PS5 has seen sales increase year-on-year. The coming fall feels somewhat inevitable.

As reported by VGC, Sony expected to shift 25 million PS5s by March 2024, but it’s now assumed that the target will be missed by 4 million units, coming in at 21 million consoles sold. For those who are waiting on the next major exclusive to be announced, I have some bad news. While 2024 is set to introduce us to some interesting new IPs like Rise of the Ronin and Stellar Blade, Sony has made it clear that you shouldn’t expect any big surprise drops anytime soon.

“Regarding first-party software, we aim to continue to focus on producing high-quality productions and producing live service games,” COO and CFP Hiroki Totoki said. “But while major projects are currently under development, we do not plan to release any new major existing franchise titles next fiscal year like God of War Ragnarök and Marvel Spider-Man 2.” That fiscal year runs from April 2024 to March 2025. It’s going to be a while before you get a new treat from some of your favourite studios.