New consoles used to come out every five years – so where's the PlayStation 6?

Another reason for Sony not to rush to unveil new hardware is that the PS5 remains ahead of its rivals, outselling Microsoft's Series X and S consoles - at least in the home console space.

The same can't be said when it comes to handhelds though.

The Nintendo Switch - a handheld console which connects to a TV to play games on a big screen - is the third-best selling console in history.

Its sequel the Switch 2, which released in June 2025, has already sold 10 million units in its first few months.

It's not a fight PlayStation is giving up though.

"We're always about new innovation in the category," Mr Lempel said.

The success of Nintendo's hardware perhaps inspired Sony to release the PlayStation Portal, an accessory which lets you stream from a PS5 you already own.

Mr Lempel said Portal was "performing really well" and though he did not reveal exact sales figures, he said it had "exceeded our expectations".

Mr Dring said he believed there was another difference in the way games were being released now which might contribute to the length of time between hardware releases.

"Some of the biggest games today are still playable on PS4, and for the first three years it was relatively rare to see any PS5-only releases," he said.

"The games dominating the most played charts are titles like Fortnite, Roblox and Call of Duty: Warzone... games that are, in some cases, over 10 years old and are playable on much older devices.

"So it might be we are going to get a new console in 2027 - but the likelihood is that most of the games that will be launching alongside that device will be fully playable on existing hardware, too."

Recent years have seen PlayStation make the move into TV and film, which Mr Lempel said was having an impact on game sales too.

"We've also found that some people discover these characters and worlds and want more," he said.

"If you look at something like The Last of Us, they want to know what happens."

He said the upcoming season three of the show was "going to be phenomenal", with future shows based on God of War and Ghost of Tsushima in the pipeline.

But if he could pick any PlayStation game to turn into a TV programme, there was one clear winner - 2002 racoon crime caper Sly Cooper.

"That's a game I love from Sucker Punch, another one of our great developers that has evolved several times over the years and done a lot of great stuff," he said.

"But I just think that would be a really interesting show... like an Ocean's 11 type thing. I think it would be great."

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