A document containing the release timeline for PlayStation 6 (PS6) has been released

Documents submitted to regulatory authorities have revealed that both Sony and MS are roughly planning to launch their next-generation consoles after "2028".

The documents come amid a series of petitions by both companies with the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) over whether Microsoft will approve its proposed acquisition of game publisher Activision Blizzard. It was done. Earlier, we noted that MS places itself at a disadvantage, claiming they are in a weaker position to prove that the acquisition does not violate antitrust laws, while Sony claims the acquisition does.

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According to Sony's filings last October 28, Microsoft has offered to guarantee that, should it succeed in acquiring Activision, the company's games will continue to be available on PlayStation until 2027. He said he did.

However, Sony judged that it was "terribly inadequate". Then the next-generation game machine (PS6) will be released without titles such as Activision's "Call of Duty" (hereinafter "CoD") series, and users will switch to Xbox and competitiveness will decline. Claim to be extremely vulnerable to

Furthermore, although it mentions the release date of the PS6, that part is blacked out in the public version. However, considering the context that "If Activision (CoD)'s new work is canceled in 2027, it will be troublesome to switch from PS6", it is presumed that it will probably be after 2028.

Three days later, Microsoft also submitted a document to CMA in response to Sony. There are no objections to the possibility of users switching to the next generation of game consoles, but "an event that happens about every eight years" and "we expect the next-generation game console to be released after the fall of 2028." It is said that there are.

In other words, both Sony and MS agree that next-generation game hardware will be introduced after 2028, not before 2027.

In particular, MS believes that production of PS5 and Xbox Series X | S will be limited until "(undisclosed time)" due to semiconductor supply constraints. In short, it seems to suggest that the supply chain, including logistics and production conditions, will not have the leeway to mass-produce next-generation game consoles for the time being.

Also interesting is that as of the end of October, MS said to Sony that it would "supply CoD to PlayStation until 2027." Considering the time axis written here, it is the same as saying "We guarantee a new CoD game until the PS5 generation, but not for the PS6 generation."

And the date revealed to the media that MS proposed to Sony "to continue supplying the CoD series for PlayStation for 10 years" is November 21st. Comprehensively deciphering it, it can be inferred that the offer was rejected only for the PS5 generation, so the offer was made again, saying, "I promise to provide new CoD work including the PS6 generation."

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By the way, both PlayStation and Xbox have some rumors of a middle-generation machine, that is, an enhanced development model that will be a bridge to a complete next-generation machine. For example, for some reason, a major electronics manufacturer in China released a slide titled "The Generation of Game Machines" at the launch of a new TV. There, it was written that the "new Xbox series" and "PS5 Pro" would be released in 2023/2024.

Also, in May this year, AMD, which supplies chips to the Xbox Series X | S and PS5, started recruiting staff to develop the "next generation RDNA family" graphic chips. In addition, there was also leaked information that most major game studios have "received the mid-generation upgrade development kit or will receive it by the beginning of the year."

Sony launched the PS4 Pro (2016) about three years after the PS4 was released (2013). The Xbox One X (2017) also appeared four years after the Xbox One (2013), so it wouldn't be strange to see the PS5 and Xbox Series X|S Pro models appear in 2023-2024.

From the documents submitted to CMA this time, it is clear that both MS and Sony believe that "the time when game consoles change generations is the key." After launching mid-generation consoles and assessing each other's response and market reaction, it may be possible to consider when to release the next-generation console "after 2028."