Sony is going to be working with AMD again to design and manufacture the heart of the PlayStation 6. Sony opted for AMD with the PlayStation 4, PS5, and even the recently announced PS5 Pro, and wants to continue working with the company to ensure that backward compatibility is retained. According to a report by Reuters, AMD has gotten the deal after a fierce bidding process that happened back in 2022. The other companies that wanted the role of developing the PlayStation 6 SoC (System on a Chip) were Broadcom and Intel.
An AMD-designed SoC has powered every PlayStation after the PS3, this means that the PS6 will have no trouble playing games that were made for the PS4 or PS5. If Sony had gone with Intel for the PlayStation 6, or Broadcom for that matter, it would have made backward compatibility a lot more complicated, which was a major point of discussion when deciding the manufacturer of the SoC.
Playing games from older systems is a very important part of the PlayStation legacy, and while it wouldn’t have become impossible, making older games work on the new system would have been a costly and time-consuming endeavor.
According to the report, Intel had a meeting with Sony in 2022 which included the CEOs of both companies as well as its engineers and executives. The reason the deal fell through was a dispute over the profit margin on each chip for Intel.
Sony just announced the PlayStation 5 Pro, and before the dust has settled, we’re already getting news relating to the PlayStation 6. The PS5 Pro is going to cost $700 without the disc drive, which can be added on for another $80. It aims to play all games at Fidelity Mode levels in terms of visuals with Performance Mode framerates.
