Sony has not locked in when the PS6 will launch, and the reason is very familiar to anyone who has watched hardware prices in the last few years: memory supply is still a problem.
During Sony’s Q4 FY25 and full-year 2025 earnings call, company executives said the next-generation PlayStation timing remains undecided because memory shortages are still affecting planning. Sony also expects memory prices to stay high into next year, which means the PS6 cannot just be treated like a normal console refresh.
For Malaysian and SEA players, this matters a lot. Console pricing here is already sensitive because we deal with currency conversion, import costs, retailer margins, and bundle-heavy launches. If Sony is worried about memory costs at global scale, jangan terkejut if the eventual PS6 lands with a painful local price tag — or if Sony delays the machine until parts pricing becomes less chaotic.
There has already been chatter that the PS6 could slip to 2028 or later. Sony did not confirm that, but the fact that launch timing is still open makes the rumour feel less crazy than before.
PlayStation is still Sony’s biggest gaming engine
Sony’s overall FY25 numbers were solid. Continuing operations brought in $82.8 billion in sales, up 4% year-on-year, while operating income rose 13% to $9.6 billion. Operating margin improved from 10.6% to 11.6%. Net income attributable to stockholders, however, dipped 3% to $6.8 billion.
The Game & Network Services division, basically the PlayStation side of the business, remained Sony’s largest segment by sales at $31.1 billion. The PS5 also performed slightly better than Sony expected for the year, shipping 15.9 million units versus its 15 million forecast.
That said, the hardware curve is clearly slowing. In Q4 FY25, Sony shipped 1.5 million PS5 units, compared with 2.8 million in the same quarter the year before. Lifetime PS5 shipments now stand at 93.7 million units.
The interesting part is that PlayStation’s growth is not just about boxes under TVs anymore. Sony said network services, meaning PlayStation Plus and the PlayStation Store, helped push sales and operating income. Non-first-party software also grew year-on-year. Monthly active users hit 125 million in March, a Q4 record for Sony, while total play time in the quarter rose 1% year-on-year.
That is the modern console business in one snapshot: fewer new hardware units late in the cycle, but a huge active base still spending on games, DLC, subscriptions, and digital storefronts. For SEA players, this is why PS Plus pricing, regional store support, and digital discounts matter almost as much as the console itself now.
Bungie is the expensive problem
The roughest part of Sony’s gaming report is Bungie. Sony booked an impairment loss of nearly $800 million linked to the studio, plus another $121 million in expenses after correcting previously capitalised Bungie development costs.
In simple terms: Sony is now valuing Bungie lower than before. Considering Sony bought Bungie for $3.6 billion in 2022, this is a pretty brutal accounting signal. Destiny 2 has not been performing like the unstoppable live-service machine Sony probably wanted, and Marathon has also faced a rough road so far.
Without that Bungie impairment, Sony said Game & Network Services operating income would have grown 45% year-on-year. That makes the hit even more painful, because the wider PlayStation business is actually healthy.
Looking ahead to FY26, Sony expects gaming sales to fall 6% due to lower PS5 hardware unit sales, while first-party software should increase. Operating income is forecast to rise 30%, mainly because the Bungie impairment is not expected to repeat.
Sony also noted that, excluding one-time items, gaming operating income should be roughly flat because it is investing in the next-generation platform. Translation: PS6 development is already eating money, even if the launch window is still belum confirm.
For Malaysian gamers, the big takeaway is simple: do not expect the PS6 conversation to be just about teraflops and graphics. Memory pricing, supply chain pressure, subscription strategy, and Sony’s live-service recovery plan may decide how soon the next PlayStation arrives — and how expensive it feels when it finally reaches our shelves.
Source: Wccftech Gaming