It’s almost going to be five full years since the PS5 launched in November 2020 globally, and now, discussions about Sony’s next big console, the PS6, are heating up, and it turns out the console may not be all that far away. In fact, as per Mark Cerny, who’s been the lead system architect for the PlayStation consoles, it could be just “a few years” away. This comes amid Mark Cerny’s official discussion with AMD’s Jack Huynh, SVP and GM, Computing and Graphics Group, about Project Amethyst, sharing both companies’ vision for future PlayStation hardware.
What is Project Amethyst and how does it affect the PS6?
Well, Project Amethyst is actually a project in partnership with PlayStation that focuses on machine learning-based graphics and gameplay. It has to do with how ray tracing works on gaming hardware. It is, at large, a resource-intensive feature to deliver, and it does tax the GPU quite a lot.
But now, with Project Amethyst, Sony and AMD are working together to bring more machine learning, or simply AI, into the picture to allow for a less stressful time for the graphics processing unit. This would, of course, result in gameplay that is smoother, more fluid, and not necessarily limited to 30 FPS, which is often the frame rate most games are capped at when ray tracing is enabled.
At large, the discussion is quite technical, but at the end of the day, it pushes one factor: delivering smoother gameplay with higher resolution without taxing the GPU. All in all, it boils down to Sony and AMD pointing towards the future, wherein you might be able to run high-end games at 4K and above resolutions at frame rates like 60fps and 120fps, which would solve major gripes a lot of people have with the current generation of consoles.
Sony’s “future console” – “A few years” away
After the end of the nine-minute-long video discussion, Mark Cerny goes on to say that “overall, of course, it’s very early days for this technology.” And that it “only exists in simulation right now,” but the results are quite promising.
“I am really excited about bringing them to a future console in a few years’ time,” Cerny said.
PS6 wishlist, anyone?
Keeping technicalities aside, there are several things Sony could actually improve with the PlayStation 6. I’ve got a solid wish list for you. Firstly, it has to do with the controllers. If Sony bundles the next DualSense controller with Hall Effect sticks instead of the current ones, which can develop drift after a while, it would make for a much better experience with less wear and tear, and less need to swap out or repair controllers.
Next up, the console should offer multiple storage tiers. Currently, if you see, the original PlayStation 5 launched with 825GB of SSD storage, and it was the only storage option available. Now, the PS5 Pro comes with 2TB, but for someone who installs a lot of games, they should have the option to choose a higher storage variant when buying the console. Having 4TB options or more would make the console far more convenient for many users, eliminating the need to manually swap the drive for a larger one.
Lastly, it should be fully backwards compatible. The PlayStation 5 does have PS4 backwards compatibility, and then you have some classics that can be played by downloading them from the PlayStation Store. These games have mostly been remastered from the PlayStation 3 and older consoles. But what I’m saying is, if I insert a PS3 disc in the PS6, it should be able to play it. That’s the kind of backwards compatibility we’d love to see in the PS6. It would open up a huge gaming library for the PlayStation 6 right at launch.
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