The world in general is in a precarious economic place. Inflation, stagnating wages, rising costs of living, and a mentally-ill fascist causing geopolitical chaos are making video games—a form of escapism for millions—less and less accessible. For many players, it’s harder than ever to keep up with the financial demands of the hobby they love.
To Sony and Microsoft in particular, I beg one thing of you:
Please do not release new consoles this decade, especially not as soon as 2027
I'm addressing this squarely to the traditional console market, as the PC gaming ecosystem is a different beast entirely and I don't want to delve into that right now. Whether you like them or not, consoles are the most popular home video game devices amongst the general population (not counting smartphones and tablets), and their influence on the larger industry has wide-reaching effects. That being said, I want to state my position that the traditional six-to-seven-year console cycle no longer makes sense in today’s market. It’s not financially sustainable for players, nor is it aligned with the reality of how games are made today. I posit that releasing a new console generation anytime soon would be a very bad move that could be detrimental to the future of the industry as a whole.
This Generation Was Delayed From the Start
The PS5 and Xbox Series X/S launched in 2020 during an unprecedented global crisis. Supply chains were fractured, availability was scarce for years, and many games were delayed. It’s only now, in the mid-2020s, that this generation is finally hitting its stride. Yet rumors of a new generation in 2027 threaten to cut it short just as it’s finally getting started.
In previous generations, manufacturing costs would typically drop over time, allowing the companies to cut the price later in a console’s lifecycle. These cuts had acted as a kind of reset button for the pricing models. The PS3 launched for $600, but the last models in its production run were down to $300. With that pricing reset, the PS4 could launch in 2013 for $400. This is a stark contrast to the current generation, which is the first console generation to go up in price mid-cycle rather than down. Most likely due to the tariff-induced chaos, Xbox consoles just saw a sharp rise in the U.S. MSRP for all of their consoles ranging from 20% to 28%. PlayStation had previously increased prices in the UK and European markets, and I would not be surprised in the slightest if they announced a similar hike in the U.S. in the very near future. We’ve also seen widespread price hikes for games—even without a hardware leap—with Microsoft and Nintendo both escalating to $80 games. If this trend continues, the next generation of consoles will only further widen the gap between the enthusiast class and everyone else. If the current hardware is going up in price, then the only direction for newer, better hardware to go is even further up.
AAA Game Development Has Outgrown the Traditional Console Cycle
In previous generations, it wasn’t unusual to get entire trilogies from a single studio on one console. Now, we’re lucky if we get one major release per generation. Look at Naughty Dog, a studio that shipped entire franchise trilogies on PS1, PS2, and PS3. On PS4, they released one and a half new games (Uncharted 4 and Lost Legacy), and on PS5? So far, nothing original; only remasters and remakes, with a new title still a year or so off from the time of writing. This isn’t a knock against Naughty Dog—it’s an observation about the scope, ambition, and timeline of modern game development. Modern AAA games simply seem to take 4-8 years to make now, with massive budgets behind them.
Why buy a whole new console and accessories just to play five or six high-profile games when it used to mean you had your pick out of dozens? Developers need more time if these are the experiences you’re after, and the console cycle hasn’t adjusted to that reality. For the smaller, less demanding indie titles, I don’t need an overpowered box like a PS5 to play them on. I’m perfectly content playing them on the less powerful Switch or Steam Deck. So far, this generation hasn’t quite provided enough opportunity for me to get a good value out of it. The last thing I need is another upgrade when the console I have is not reaching its full potential.
The Graphical Arms Race Should Be Over By Now
We’ve long been seeing diminishing returns on graphical fidelity with each console generation, and those returns are more diminished than ever. Sure, the jump from PS4 to PS5 had meaningful benefits—especially in regards to load times—but it wasn’t transformative for most players. It was mostly just a slightly sharper version of what we were already used to. This also seems to be a generation with one of the longer periods of cross-generation support; many “next-gen” games were also released day and date on both the new consoles and their predecessors. Visually, we’ve already reached a level that feels “good enough” for quite some time. More fidelity will just mean more expensive productions, which is something I plan to talk about in a future article.
I do most of my gaming on a Steam Deck and a modest mini PC that handles 1080p/60fps. I’m more than satisfied with my setup. I also have a launch PS5, which is more than powerful enough for my needs. I don’t care about 4K/120fps or maximum ray tracing settings. I care about great gameplay and smart design. The base PS5 still has wads of untapped potential—so why move on already?
Nintendo Might Prove My Point
You’ll notice I haven’t directly mentioned Nintendo very much until now. That’s because the original Switch has always been underpowered, and an upgrade was long overdue. The original Switch was, at its core, a budget tablet. It was home to many great games that I enjoyed for hundreds of hours in total, but its low-end specs made it incapable of running many of the more demanding 3rd-party games that were releasing on other consoles. Clearly that wasn’t a major problem at the time, given its massive success, but 1st-party games and lower-spec indie titles were what it relied on. The upcoming Switch 2 looks to finally hit the minimum performance level needed to stay relevant and court 3rd-party developers outside of the indie scene. As such, I think this was a necessary move for Nintendo. It’s not forcing us into the “next generation” as much as it's just closing the gap a bit to be more relevant in the current generation. Yes, prices have gone up when you compare the Switch 2 to the original Switch; but this just puts them more in line with the other console manufacturers' pricing. Plus, it softens the blow that most of the controllers and games from the previous console will still be usable in some way with the Switch 2.
I’ve pre-ordered one, even though its power roughly matches the PS4/Xbox One. And that’s fine to me, because Nintendo excels at delivering innovative experiences without chasing graphical benchmarks. Plus, I love handheld play; I’ve put far more time into playing my Switch handheld and playing my Steam Deck than I have my PS5. I’m excited to see what they can do with the extra headroom to better realize their ambitions. The PS4/Xbox One era was the last generation where I really noticed a jump in visuals, and I’d be perfectly content if that spec tier became the new baseline.
Yes, there are risks—the relatively high asking price, economic volatility, market saturation, demented orange men—but the Switch 2 could represent a healthy balance of performance, affordability, and creativity. If it succeeds, it might reinforce the idea that brute-force power isn't the future.
Please, Just Let This Generation Breathe
To Sony and Microsoft: Slow down.
Let developers take their time. Let players enjoy what we already have. Let the hardware mature. Pushing for a whole new generation in 2027, just as the current one finds its rhythm, is short-sighted and potentially apocalyptic for the larger industry. If I had to suggest an alternative, I'd say broaden this generation horizontally with alternate options instead. Instead of a trying to force a transition to a next-gen ecosystem, why not give people more ways to experience this generation? My handheld bias is definitely cropping up again, but why not go for some proper Xbox and PlayStation handhelds that can natively play your current library? I'd rather have the option of getting a portable PS5 than be forced to get a PS6 just to play then next Spider-Man or Infamous game.
Many people would love a shiny new PS6 or Xbox, but the costs are just getting too high for many people to justify the purchase. This is a luxury hobby, but that doesn't mean the average person should be completely priced out of it. If this trend continues, gaming could become a gated community for the wealthy, rather than a global cultural force open to all. That's a future I do not want to see.