Sony CEO provides PlayStation 6 update we didn't want to hear

Much like it feels like the wait between our favourite video game franchises is getting longer, the same can be said about console cycles. We shouldn't really complain too much about that, because when you're shelling out hundreds for a shiny new console, surely you want it to last as long as possible before stumping up for a new one?

It's already been six years since the PlayStation 5 was released, but we're only truly coming to the end of the PS4's life cycle after Japan finally stopped producing them in March 2024.

Ever-impatient players are obviously looking ahead to the eventual release of the next PlayStation, and while the internet is full of supposed insiders with rumours about when it'll land, Sony CEO Hiroki Totoki has cleared up some of the confusion with an unwanted confirmation.

What has Hiroki Totoki said about the PlayStation 6?

Speaking to the Wall Street Journal, Totoki confirmed that multiple parts of Sony's gaming arm are currently being affected by the RAMpocalypse and increased pressure on manufacturers, meaning the PS6 doesn't even have an internal release date.

Referring to demand for AI sending a ripple through the wider tech world, the WSJ reiterated: "That has also affected the rollout of the PS6, the sixth generation of Sony’s PlayStation video game console. Many analysts had expected the console to arrive next year, but those expectations have drifted further out because of the global shortage of key components caused by the ravenous demand from AI."

This was something we'd already feared amid soaring RAM prices, but it also echoes Totoki's earlier musings. In a May 2026 update (via VGC), the company bigwig reiterated: "We have not yet decided on at what time we will launch the new console, or at what prices. So we would like to really observe and follow the situation."

READ MORE: PS6 'Death Day' Hinted By PlayStation Before The Next-Gen Is Even Underway

Back then, Totoki foreshadowed memory prices remaining high into the 2027 financial year due to supply issues, and that "under that assumption, we must think carefully what we will do.”

All of this comes in the aftermath of Sony being dragged over the coals for confirming it'll stop producing physical discs in January 2028.

With this in mind, it makes sense that the company will wait until after this restructuring before releasing the PS6.

It very much feels like a time of flux for the PlayStation brand, and while some gamers have even banded together to try and sue over the physical media cull, it's a decision that Sony CFO Lin Tao has defended.

What about the PS6 price rumours?

If all of this wasn't grim enough, there are also all those PS6 pricing rumours to contend with. Reports from December 2025 claimed we could be paying a reasonable £600 to £700 price tag, although that was quickly swallowed by much harsher predictions.

We've since seen the supposedly affordable Xbox Series S get a price hike to more than the PS5 cost at launch in 2020, with updated rumours pointing to a possible four-figure PS6 price prediction.

The only potential silver lining is that if Sony doesn't even have an internal release date for the PS6, can it even have a potential price tag?

As Totoki said, as the company has to 'think carefully' about what it does next, there's very much an expectation that it'll be a case of wait-and-see.

Assuming the PS6 will come in at the top end of pricing estimates, at least an extended development cycle means we'll have a bit longer to save for the console.