New Report Says PS6 And The Next Xbox Could Be Delayed Thanks To AI

/in

Dec 29, 2025

It’s a strange time to be a video game fan in a landscape full of excellent games and very, very expensive hardware to play them on, especially in the console space.

Now, there’s a new report from Tom Henderson of Insider Gaming that console makers like Sony and Microsoft are allegedly debating potential delays of planned 2027 or 2028 console launches, which would be 7-8 years after the original PS5 and Xbox Series X/S release.

The issue? RAM availability, and the high prices that follow:

“From what we understand, the situation has led console manufacturers to debate whether the next generation of consoles should be delayed from their intended 2027-2028 release window, with the hope that RAM manufacturers will be able to build out their infrastructure to produce more RAM, thereby allowing prices to drop.”

You may be able to guess where the RAM is going, which is to the endless demands of AI infrastructure and processing that has rocketed up all over the world. As in, hundreds of percent in RAM prices increases thanks to AI.

There are two main industry issues this causes:

  • With these consoles years away, this could mean further price hikes for current-gen hardware. Sony has already upped prices once, Xbox twice. Now we’re in a situation where a PS5 costs more than it did at launch five years ago in an industry where prices are supposed to go down in time. Microsoft, meanwhile, has now had to increase the prices of a console like the 2TB Xbox Series X to an eye-popping $800, that price and others contributing to Xbox hardware sales falling off a cliff. Nintendo has thus far avoided price hikes on its new Switch 2, though it launched at $450, far above the $300 of the original Switch (the Switch 1 recently saw a 10% price increase itself).
  • Then, the obvious next step. If these current consoles cost this much, what on earth are we talking about as a price for next-gen consoles, PlayStation 6 or the next Xbox? These would be consoles that launch at what, $800-1000, and more than the equivalent of that in other regions? And without RAM relief and price cuts, even that may turn out to be a big loss for these companies. Those price estimates could be low.

This, of course, is combined with lower consumer purchasing power due to the global economy, where consumers are less inclined to spend potentially $1,000 on a gaming console that used to launch at $300, as rent and groceries and other goods and services also now cost more. Not RAM level increases, but spikes all the same.

AI continues to devour the world in various ways, whether that’s job replacement or its hardware demands. Right now, there does not appear to be an end in sight.

Source:New Report Says PS6 And The Next Xbox Could Be Delayed Thanks To AI