Sony is pushing PlayStation 6’s hardware to a far greater level for future video games.
While Sony is extending onto PC and other platforms, consoles are the real backbone of its gaming business. Recently, Sony CEO Hideaki Nishino said that PlayStation consoles aren’t going anywhere. Speaking to Famitsu, Nishino explained that since plenty of gamers still play PlayStation 4 games and the PlayStation 5 library is still expanding, he does not see PlayStation going anywhere anytime soon.
Thinking about 2025, we should be seeing more about the PlayStation 6 given that now that the PlayStation 5 Pro is out, we already started hearing stuff last year; Sony’s attention is on the PlayStation 6 and the consoles’ launch, which sounds like a sensible move.
Now, moving into the major narrative here with the PlayStation 6 leaks, this material comes from one of the same leakers behind the specs for the PlayStation 5 Pro, Kepler L2, who was among the first persons to discuss the PlayStation 5 Pro and provide more details.
Mark Cerny essentially stated that the PlayStation 5 Pro would have certain RDNA 4 characteristics for ray tracing, which was mentioned by Kepler L2 as they are using capabilities beyond RDNA 3, thus clearly indicating RDNA 4. Recently, he returned to go over the PlayStation 6, and the buzz train has started.
Mark Cerny said this over on Neogaf. PS 6 is designed completely and is already in pre-silicon validation, with an O tape out anticipated for late this year. So, the PlayStation 6 SOC design is complete. Pre-silicon Validation refers to rigorous testing on the SOC before it is sent to be manufactured, as for an O tape out here. It is crazy to know that it is late this year until we get some more information from Kepler later. Later this year is the first time the chip is truly built.
Furthermore, other facts a user should know were discussed. A user responded with some concern, stating, “That won’t allow for much of a rise in transistor density against a PlayStation 5 Pro. How are they going to launch PS 6 on an n3 derivative?” Therefore, they would have to either scale the die size or have significant architectural advantages to attain appreciable results.
Kepler answered with not necessarily Zen 6 is intended entirely as well; some of that is on n2. Thus, n3 and n2 represent the developments in the node from our knowledge and for our needs here. Simply said, n2 is superior to n3.
The fascinating thing we should pay attention to, though, is the Zen 6 reference, as Zen 2 is now found on the PlayStation 5 as known. This is a significant leap in CPU performance over what we now have. Kepler does not seem to declare exactly what will be in the PlayStation 6, but it looks to end.
Kepler now seems to indicate that we are receiving a possibility, not to say exactly what will be in the PlayStation 6. Recall that we have RDNA 2, which debuted for PC users the same year as the PlayStation 5 launch, and Zen 2 debuted in 2019, just the year before.
Zen 6 might start in 2026, which would provide a sort of launch schedule for the PlayStation 6. Zen 2 debuted in July 2019, and PS5 debuted in late 2020. Based on speculations, the Zen 6 could be starting in 2026 or early 2027; thus, the PlayStation 6 might appear in late 2027.
Regarding the GPU, Kepler claimed, “GPU is an early fork of GFX 13, do not know how big.” From what others on Reddit are saying, this relates to UDNA, RDNA 5, basically, but it is AMD’s new unified structure, which they revealed last year. Rumors have said that this will launch sometime in 2026. These all seem to point to a possible PlayStation 6 Christmas debut in 2027.
Additionally, Kepler mentions Sony’s typical tempo, two years from AO tape-out to platform release. We also mentioned earlier that Kepler stated that AO tape-out was happening later this year, meaning that, assuming nothing negative happens or no problems arise, the PlayStation 6 should be launching in late 2027, exactly seven years following the PlayStation 5.
Recall that Sony has said the introduction of the PlayStation 5 Pro will not affect the timing of their next console release. This does not mean that once the PlayStation 6 is released, the PlayStation 5 will not obtain console support.
Looking at the PlayStation 4 and the PlayStation 3 those products are still in use. This indicates quite precisely how long it will take before those PlayStation Network servers are closed. Cross-generation for the PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 6 will take some time. But first, let’s not hope that we will get PlayStation 6 very soon.
However, another rumor floating around right now is that the PlayStation 6 will use 3DV caching. According to what I know, this is important. Looking this stuff up, the CPU’s cache exists to access data even faster than RAM, therefore breaking it down as I have come to understand it.
They have some cached information on the CPU that is available for rapid access instead of visiting RAM. AMD’s 3DV cache stacks more memory on the CPU, so it doesn’t raise the die space area of the processor but rather provides more memory to play with.
The PlayStation 6 will thus have more memory to access the CPU’s cache, which speeds processing since the CPU requires less time to access data. For the GPU, UDNA looks; for the CPU, Zen 5 or Zen 6, 3DV cache looks.
