PlayStation boss, John Kodera, told investors the PlayStation 4 is entering the end of its lifecycle during Sony‘s corporate strategy meeting today. While that statement probably gets you all hot and bothered for a PlayStation 5 announcement, it’s probably best not to get your hopes up just yet.
Sure, the PS5 will rear its beautiful head at some point, but Sony’s current gen console will likely be around for a few years yet, particularly with big games like The Last of Us: Part II and Spider-Man on the horizon.
What Kodera is actually saying, is that while sales of the PS4 sales are expected to start ramping down (16 million sales are forecast this year, compared with 19 million last year), the platform is still viable for some time. He went on to explain that this dip in hardware sales is expected to be compensated by subscriptions to PlayStation Plus.
PS chief Kodera: PS4 is entering final phase of its life cycle, which would have negative impact to the unit, but recurring revenue via membership services etc should cushion some of that.
— Takashi Mochizuki (@6d6f636869) May 22, 2018
Looking at past trends, the PS4 becoming an old and frail retiree makes a lot of sense. The console is now in its fifth year and has sold more than 79 million units, placing it just behind the PS3‘s 80 million units.
And if you think the company might sneak in cheeky hardware announcement at E3 in June, you’re shit outta luck, pal. PlayStation executive, Shawn Layden, has already confirmed that they will be making exactly zero (0) hardware announcements at this year’s briefing.
What you can expect, though, is more exclusives for the PS4. You gotta be happy with that, right?
SIE chief Kodera: You can expect more exclusive titles for PS platforms!
— Takashi Mochizuki (@6d6f636869) May 22, 2018
If you were wondering when you should expect a new console from Sony, NPD analyst, Matt Piscatella, says it probably won’t be until at least 2020. Good news if you’ve just purchased a PS4, folks.
