Sony Clarifies PS6 Won't Be Sold at a Loss — But $1,000 Consoles Are Coming

There’s a quiet tension building in the living room of every serious gamer. Components are getting more expensive, console makers are sweating their margins, and the generation-defining question — how much will a PlayStation 6 actually cost? — is starting to find some uncomfortable answers.

IT-NEWS, June 29 — Sony has officially weighed in on the question, and the message is clear: the company has no intention of selling its next-generation hardware at a loss.

The response came during a recent Q&A session focused on Sony’s Game & Network Services division. An attendee asked executives about the company’s current approach to hardware pricing and profitability — specifically, whether the “profit-first” mindset that now governs current console pricing would carry over to the next generation.

Sony published the exchange, and the answer was straightforward. The company sees hardware as the most essential carrier of the gaming experience and wants consumers to feel the value of what they’re buying. On pricing, the official line is this: in principle, Sony will not sell hardware at a significant loss. But it is closely watching the market.

“We view hardware as the foundation of the gaming experience,” a Sony representative said in the published Q&A transcript. “Products like PlayStation Portal are designed to expand play beyond the traditional living room setting. As for pricing, we can’t absorb the full impact of rising component costs on our own — we’ve already raised prices on several hardware models outside Japan. Sales are still meeting expectations, and we haven’t seen a drop in consumer demand. But as a principle, we will never sell hardware at a significant loss. We’ll keep monitoring the market and adjusting our strategy. The most important thing is making sure consumers recognize the value they’re getting for the price.”

The context here matters. Memory and storage chips have been in a prolonged supply crunch, and costs have surged. Sony is not alone — Microsoft, Nintendo, and Apple have all raised hardware prices in recent months. Last week Microsoft bumped Xbox console prices again, and Valve’s Steam Machine eventually landed well above its original target pricing.

Sony president and CEO Hiroki Totoki revealed last month that the company has not yet finalized the launch timing or pricing for the PlayStation 6. Speaking through a translator, Totoki said: “We haven’t decided on the launch timing or the price for the next-generation console. We’ll continue to watch and follow the market. Looking at the current state of the industry, memory chip supply gaps will persist through fiscal 2027, and prices are expected to stay high. We need to plan carefully.”

He noted that active users on the PlayStation platform are still growing, and “market demand hasn’t shrunk” — giving Sony room to refine its strategy for the next hardware cycle.

Industry analysts have been running the numbers since Valve’s Steam Machine pricing surfaced last week, trying to predict what it means for the PS6 and Microsoft’s next-gen console (codenamed Helix). The consensus is not comforting. Many now expect both consoles to break the $1,000 barrier.

Jost van der Leunen, CEO of Aldora Consulting, told GamesIndustry.biz the trend is already locked in. “At the current rate of cost increases, next-generation consoles won’t arrive until 2028 at the earliest, and $1,000 is just the starting point. Even currently available hardware is getting more expensive.”

Newzoo’s intelligence director, Manu Rossier, offered a slightly different take. While most manufacturers will likely offer premium configurations above $1,000, Rossier believes they will still keep a base model in the three-digit range — even if it’s $999. Four-digit pricing, he argues, triggers a strong psychological resistance in consumers.

The bottom line: Sony is done playing the loss-leader game. Whether gamers are ready to pay $1,000 for a console is the question that still has no answer.