A new report from Ampere Analysis states that launching the PS6 and XBOX Project Helix at a price of $1,000 in 2028 could significantly slow adoption of the new generation. Cumulative sales of the two consoles could be up to 38% lower than those of the PS5 and XBOX Series over their first five years.

This decline would also impact the games and services market, resulting in $3.4 billion less in spending by 2031 compared to consoles sold for $700. Rising component costs, particularly for memory and storage, are pushing Sony and Microsoft to consider much higher prices than normal.

There are three solutions proposed. First, Ampere Analysis suggests delaying the next generation to wait for hardware costs to fall. Another option would be to maintain a 2028 release but reduce the price through hardware subsidies, new monetization sources, and a strengthened digital strategy.

Finally, Sony and Microsoft could focus on more radical innovation, prioritizing new use cases rather than mere graphical improvements. XBOX already appears to be moving toward these last two approaches with Helix, which is expected to be a PC-console hybrid featuring a different business model.