Memory crisis is driving uncertainty over PlayStation 6's launch date

What the report says

Diego Argüello,Contributing Editor, News,GameDeveloper.comAugust 18, 20262 Min ReadImage via PlayStationSony CEO Hiroki Totoki says the company is yet to fix a date for the PlayStation 6 launch due to the ongoing memory crisis.Speaking to The Wall Street Journal, the CEO deems "trade wars and disrupted supplies of energy and chips" as the biggest challenges for the company of the current era. The latter in particular, referring to a global component shortage driven by widespread investment in AI data centers, is having an impact on Sony's plans around the PlayStation 6.The Wall Street Journal notes that analysts had expected the console to arrive sometime next year.

Yet those expectations have drifted further out due to the shortage.Regarding all of the ongoing challenges surrounding the company, as well as the tech industry in general, Totoki says that a CEO's most important task is simply making sure the business survives."Considering that importance, we need to take some action," Totoki says. "Otherwise, we cannot survive in this landscape."As noted in Sony's latest fiscal report, hardware and software sales are beginning to slow with the platform around six years into its lifecycle. The report follows multiple hardware price increases in the last year.The company also confirmed it has secured the quantity of memory it feels will be necessary to meet its projected hardware sales during FY26.

Sony is far from the only tech giant struggling with the shortage—Microsoft, Valve, and Nintendo have also adjusted prices for their corresponding hardware in response to it.In particular, Xbox CEO Asha Sharma said in April that the memory crisis could impact next-gen hardware availability and pricing. Then, two months later, Xbox's chief strategy officer Matthew Ball said demand for Xbox consoles is outstripping supply, with the crisis posing a "severe limitation" on production speeds. The current climate has led the company to "rethink" Project Helix, which is its own next-gen console.Despite all of these examples of how the rampant investment in AI data centers is affecting the business, Sony's Totoki remains bullish on the use of AI.

Key details

As noted by The Wall Street Journal, a recent Sony investor presentation highlighted AI tools to animate characters' hair in video games."AI cannot replace it," the CEO tells the publication. "AI can enhance human creativity. It is really up to us. We take advantage of AI, or we face a threat from AI."Top StoriesGenerative AI, Machine Learning, & LLMsPlayStationAbout the AuthorDiego ArgüelloContributing Editor, News, GameDeveloper.comDiego Nicolás Argüello is a freelance journalist and critic from Argentina. Video games helped him to learn English, so now he covers them for places like The New York Times, NPR, Rolling Stone, and more.

He also runs Into the Spine, a site dedicated to fostering and supporting new writers, and co-hosted Turnabout Breakdown, a podcast about the Ace Attorney series. He’s most likely playing a rhythm game as you read this.See more from Diego Argüello