Ken Kutaragi, creator of the very first PlayStation, believes the era of gaming consoles may be coming to an end. He speaks of a “very real” danger. By linking his remarks to Sony’s recent announcements, the console as we know it, with its disc drive and hardware renewed every seven years, seems to be reaching the end of its cycle.
The network rather than the machine
Kutaragi spoke during a long interview with The Game Business, at the Game Republic New Horizons conference. It was at the end of the discussion that he was asked for his opinion on the current situation of PlayStation and Xbox. His answer boils down to an observation: the machines cost far too much. He recalls that the PS4 moved from a console architecture to a PC architecture to simplify development, while the PC itself has become expensive.
His solution is the network. He cites Gemini and other AI platforms that operate server-side, not on the user’s machine. According to him, these services could evolve to the point of making the console unnecessary. However, he specified that this is his personal opinion and not that of Sony. This discourse is nothing new: at the time of the PS1 and then the PS2, when asked about what came next, he already replied that everything would merge into the network.
The disc, the first element to disappear
Sony is already dismantling the classic console, starting with the disc. Sony Interactive Entertainment announced that it would stop producing disc editions of new PlayStation games in January 2028, with new titles becoming downloadable only.
The figures explain this decision. In the last fiscal year, 22% of game copies sold on PlayStation were discs, compared to 49% six years earlier and 73% nine years earlier. In terms of revenue, the share is even smaller: disc sales accounted for only 5% of Sony’s software revenue, which reached 2,640 billion yen.
Kutaragi approves of this choice. He acknowledges that it has created friction with enthusiasts, but believes it is not economically reasonable for PlayStation to continue investing in discs. In his view, no one demands physical media on a smartphone, because users feel they keep their content. Nostalgia for discs would therefore, in his eyes, be a matter of mindset. He does not mention, in the interview, issues of resale, lending, or game preservation for players. Sony has also argued in court that no reasonable consumer believes they own games purchased on the PlayStation Store, these purchases being only a revocable license.
The price of hardware, the new sticking point
Consoles and PCs have never been so expensive, and nothing indicates an improvement in the short term. Bloomberg reported in February that Sony was considering delaying its next console to 2028-2029, citing a RAM shortage. According to new leaks, the PS6 could cost more than 1,200 euros, a price that would arrive just as discs disappear. Kutaragi, who launched the PS3 at 600 euros, knows better than anyone what high-priced hardware represents.
In early October, he also suggested that real-time AI should be capable of generating content at the speed of current consoles around 2028-2029, and that all content would then change. He believes the global gaming market, currently over 30 trillion yen, could reach around 3 quadrillion yen. It is worth noting that he now runs Ascent Robotics as CEO and chairs Cyber AI Entertainment, two companies focused on AI.
The PS6 is expected to retain a fairly classic form, but the announced trends point to more digital-only games, more expensive machines, and manufacturers betting on the cloud. Kutaragi may be wrong about the timeline for generative AI, the narrative notes, but in essence, the home console as we know it could well be living its last generation.
