Ampere: PlayStation 6 Could Launch Near $1,000

Ampere Analysis projects that rising component and production costs could push the PlayStation 6 launch price as high as $1,000 and that such a price would reduce five-year adoption by roughly 38% compared with the current generation.

The London-based researcher modeled multiple scenarios for next-generation consoles and found that a conventionally designed machine sold near $1,000 would reach a smaller audience than the PS5 did. For context, the PS5 launched at $499.99 in 2020 and the PS4 started at $399.99. In Ampere’s simulations, a $700 launch price produces stronger adoption than a $1,000 price point.

Ampere attributes the higher retail price risk to increased costs for advanced chips and manufacturing. The analysis examines the choices facing Sony and Microsoft for consoles expected around the 2028 window and shows how hardware cost inflation can limit market reach if companies keep a traditional product strategy.

The report outlines three broad options for Sony. One is delaying a launch beyond 2028 to wait for component prices to fall or to buy time to change plans. A second is keeping a 2028 release while increasing subsidies on hardware and expanding digital sales and subscription revenue to offset higher manufacturing costs. A third is redesigning the console to reduce emphasis on raw graphical performance, which could lower build costs and keep the retail price below $1,000.

Piers Harding-Rolls, research director at Ampere Analysis, warned that “the economics of console gaming have changed significantly” and that companies taking incremental, conventionally designed consoles to market at substantially higher prices risk reducing the addressable audience for the next generation.

The report does not recommend a single path. It notes Sony has time to adjust hardware design, pricing and marketing before the next generation and that choices on hardware performance, retail price and recurring revenue will affect early adoption and the competitive landscape for consoles launching in or after 2028.