Sony
The PlayStation 4 Pro.
- The PlayStation 4 is here to stay - at least for now.
- The new head of PlayStation, John Kodera, said it'll be another three years before we see a PlayStation 5.
- "We will use the next three years to prepare the next step, to crouch down so that we can jump higher in the future," Kodera said.
The PlayStation 5 is still at least three years away - it'll be an entirely new decade by the time its ready to go.
At least that's the word from the new head of Sony's PlayStation division, John Kodera. "We will use the next three years to prepare the next step," Kodera said in a meeting with reporters, according to the Wall Street Journal, in a reference to the PlayStation 4's successor.
With over 75 million PlayStation 4 consoles in the wild, sales for the massively popular game system are finally slowing. Sony's PlayStation 4 sales estimates for the current fiscal year project fewer consoles sold than the previous year - for the first time since the console went on sale in November 2013.
But that doesn't mean it's time for the next PlayStation console just yet.
Instead, Sony's planning to focus on wringing revenue from services like its PlayStation Plus program. "We're no longer in a time when you can think just about the console or just about the network like they're two different things," Kodera said.
The PlayStation Plus service costs $60 annually, and has over 30 million subscribers. It offers access to online multiplayer gaming, provides a library of games, and other benefits.
It's services like PlayStation Plus - and the PlayStation Vue streaming TV service - that Sony's planning to lean on.
There's at least one other good reason that Sony isn't moving on from the PlayStation 4 just yet: The PlayStation 4 Pro exists.
PlayStation/YouTube
The two current models of PlayStation 4.
Less than two years ago, Sony launched the PlayStation 4 Pro: A more powerful update to the PlayStation 4. It plays the same games, but makes them look prettier and load more quickly.
It's a kind of half step up, in terms of horsepower, from the PlayStation 4. If you're buying a new PlayStation 4 at this point, and you have a 4K/HDR-capable television, you should buy a PlayStation 4 Pro.
Sony's PlayStation 4 is in a strong position. Over 75 million consoles have been sold, putting Sony in first place by a long shot, and a relatively new PS4 console is on sale for the other 6.93 billion people who don't own one yet. The company already has a large base of players to sell games to, and its hardware lineup is relatively fresh.
That means Sony can enjoy the higher profits that come with game, accessory, and subscription sales while continuing to sell new consoles, thus increasing its userbase (which increases its number of potential game buyers, etc.).
In so many words, there are strong financial arguments for Sony not moving on from the PlayStation 4 - at least for now.