PS6 delay looks increasingly likely after PS5 enjoys 22% sales boost

Despite being nearly six years old, PlayStation 5 sales increased considerably in September, thanks to the launch of Wolverine and burgeoning excitement for GTA 6.

While console manufacturers are always working on new hardware, the trigger for them beginning to focus on a new console generation is when the sales for the old one peak and then begin to decline.

So, with the PlayStation 6 originally expected to launch in 2027, you’d think that must mean PlayStation 5 sales are already falling, especially after Sony raised the price earlier this year.

And yet new data suggests that PlayStation 5 sales in the US saw a not insignificant boost of 22% in the month of September, which is yet another sign that the PlayStation 6 is not needed yet.

The figures come from Circana, as shared by Bloomberg, with revenue earned having risen by 43%, making the PlayStation 5 a bigger money maker that month than both the Nintendo Switch 2 and the Xbox Series X.

Bloomberg credits this to the upcoming launch of GTA 6, which is fair as it is the most anticipated video game of all time and is being prominently advertised for the PlayStation 5. So much so you’d be forgiven for thinking it’s an exclusive and not coming to Xbox.

Interestingly, Circana’s senior director Mat Piscatella told IGN that the 22% boost is mostly thanks to the new Wolverine game, which launched in September and was that month’s best-selling game in the US.

‘PlayStation 5’s hardware boost was primarily driven by Marvel’s Wolverine. NBA 2K27 and Grand Theft Auto 6 also likely helped,’ said Piscatella, adding that Wolverine also launched with a console bundle that ‘seems to have sold out’, as well as a limited edition DualSense controller that was the month’s best-selling accessory.

Aside from further cementing Wolverine as a success, this is a stark reminder that for all the online outrage over the game’s overzealous handholding and lack of complexity, plus Sony’s admittedly awful decision to abandon physical games after 2027, most casual gamers don’t really care about those sort of things.

Ultimately, lots of people saw a new Wolverine game was coming out, thought it looked cool, and happily bought it. It even sounds like this was the exclusive to convince some into buying a PlayStation 5 six years after its launch – even if GTA 6 was also in the back of their mind as well.

There’s also the fact that Sony no longer has any real competition in the high-end market, as evidenced by how poorly Xbox consoles continue to sell.

When combined with the uptick in PS5 Pro sales in the wake of the GTA 6 Netflix preview, you’d think there must be discussions within Sony about holding back the PlayStation 6 for a while longer.

In fact, that’s exactly what’s been rumoured recently, with a report in July suggesting the PlayStation 6 is now planned for late 2028. While a more recent rumour suggested Xbox was also pushing it’s new home console back to the same time.

This isn’t even getting into the fact that the ongoing memory shortages stand to hamper Sony too, with some insiders suggesting the PlayStation 6 could be pushed back as far as 2029.

If sales of the PlayStation 5 continue to be as healthy as they are then that may not matter at all to Sony, while simultaneously avoiding complaints from fans that the new hardware is arriving when it’s not yet needed.

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