What I want to see from Sony and PS5 in 2026 – Reader’s Feature

After Sony only released one major internally-developed game in 2025, a reader lays out the three most important issues he thinks they need to concentrate on next year.

We’re getting close to Christmas and the new year now and things always finish early for gaming. In fact, there’s virtually no major new PlayStation 5 games out in December at all. Of course, in terms of games Sony themselves made there’s hard any at any time of year. Ghost Of Yōtei was the only one that was made by an actual third party developer and while it was great it really wasn’t enough.

I’ve come up with some ideas of what I want Sony to do next year but I hope it doesn’t seem as simple as just making more games. It’s about a whole shift in attitude, away from being this silent giant, making as little effort as possible, to the old PlayStation we used to know in previous generations.

Sony is often accused of being arrogant and it’s true that they can come across like that, but they’ve never been lazy before and that is how this generation has come across: lazy and complacent. With Xbox journeying through the U-bend at the moment there’s every chance they could get even worse, but I think that would be very dangerous for them.

Sony needs to make more first party games

Okay, I know I said it wasn’t as simple as making more games, but it is part of it. We had one game this year, just one. And it’s been only one or two for years now. No matter how good they are the chances of you not happening to like what they put out, and thereby not getting any Sony first party games at all, is now very high. For example, I don’t care for Wolverine as a character so there is very little chance I’m going to buy his game, no matter how good it is.

The importance of making more games is not just because people want more Sony titles but because there needs to be one to ensure as many tastes as possible are satisfied. In the PlayStation 4 era there was a big problem with all their games being third person ‘sad dad’ games but that’s an even bigger issue now, given there’s so few releases each year.

We need quality and we need variety or otherwise, why even bother with a PlayStation 5? If the only thing stopping you getting a PC is access to exclusives earlier, you need to make those exclusive worth the while.

Don’t shut down Bungie

Let’s face it, Bungie is a dead developer walking. If they don’t get shut down and ripped apart, with developers being sent to all different parts of Sony, I will be shocked. But they shouldn’t be. Sony should shake them up for sure – change all the management if that’s the problem – but then they need to give them something new to work on. For my money that should not be Destiny 3 but a new single-player games.

Sony’s live service obsession has been a disaster but if you look at their line-up it does seem as if they’ve realised that now. They’re probably not going to admit it publicly but no new ones are being announced and it seems like a lot have been quietly cancelled. So don’t shut Bungie down just because it didn’t work out, have them make a new single-player game. Whether it’s in the style of Halo or not I don’t care, just don’t let such a long-running developer disappear.

Delay the launch of the PlayStation 6

We’re already getting rumours about the next console, including hints from Sony, but I hope they realise just how unwanted the new console is. It’s got two major problems: it’s going to be expensive and it’s not going to be a major step up. I know they need it to boost console sales but that can also happen with price cuts, like we saw last month, and with more killer app games, which takes me back to my first point.

What I would do, if I were them, is concentrate on this idea of the portable PlayStation 5. If that’s what they’re really working on, then I would forget the PlayStation 6 entirely and just focus on that. I’d guess a lot more people are interesting in that anyway, especially as it won’t be as expensive as a PlayStation 6 would be, while also being a way to extend the life of the PlayStation 5 while still seeming like something new.

I have been very interested in hearing about the Nex Playground recently, that new family console that works like the Wii and outsold both the PlayStation 5 and the Xbox for a time. I don’t imagine it’s a long term rival but it shows how vulnerable Sony actually is. That was a niche console from a no-name company, imagine what would happen if Amazon or Apple or someone decided they were going to fill the gap in the market left by Xbox.

That may well be good for gamers, especially in terms of ensuring lots of competition, but it sure isn’t for Sony, especially if they still don’t have their eye on the ball until it’s too late.

By reader Ashton Marley

The reader’s features do not necessarily represent the views of GameCentral or Metro.

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