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

You used to be able to count the number of years between game consoles on one hand.

The original Sony PlayStation came out in the UK in September 1995. Five years later, the PS2 was released and brought with it significant changes.

It was a similar story for other consoles but, of late, things seem to have slowed down - which might explain why, as the PS5 hits its fifth anniversary, a potential PS6 is nowhere in sight.

According to PlayStation's business boss, Eric Lempel, that's because there's plenty of life in the old dog yet.

"I would say we're really hitting our stride now," he told BBC News.

Given there remains "a lot of great content" the company is "just going to continue with PS5" he explained.

Mr Lempel oversaw the launch of the console, which was plagued by supply chain issues upon its release as a result of a global chip shortage.

The supply problems were resolved after three years, and the console has gone on to sell more than 84 million units worldwide.

And, as it turns five, he said the title which would become the PS5's biggest seller hadn't even been released yet.

"I'm not going to tell you which one, but I think it's still to come," he said.

"Back in the 80s and 90s, each console brought huge jumps in power and capability relative to what came before," said Steve Cottam, boss of game streaming service Antstream Arcade.

"Today, improvements are still happening, but they're more technical and less immediately striking to the average player."

The fact the PS5 is set to be around for a while yet means Sony has plenty of high-profile games in the works.

Marvel's Wolverine, made by the same team behind the successful Spider-Man series, is set for a 2026 release - while Intergalactic, the upcoming game from Uncharted and The Last of Us developer Naughty Dog, is in development.

Industry expert Christopher Dring said Naughty Dog's schedule went some way to explaining another reason why consoles were lasting longer - because it takes more time to make games for them than it used to.

"During the PS3 generation, Naughty Dog released four games," he said.

"During the PS4 generation, that dropped to three games - so far during the PS5 generation, it's not released one."

He said this story was repeated across the industry, with Grand Theft Auto 6 - which will be on both PlayStation and Xbox - recently delayed to November 2026.

Mr Dring said another factor which might also explain the longevity of a console like the PS5 is that gamers are also more willing to try new things.

"We're seeing on average people are playing 50% more games than they did last generation, and they're really branching out to different types of games," he said.

"They'll play the hits, but they'll also play smaller games or unique games that they've never heard of before."

One gamer told the BBC the gap between console releases might not be a bad thing for consumers.

"I think it's a good thing they are no longer churning out new consoles every couple of years - with a new variation here, a slightly slimmer version there, a slightly bigger screen, and so on," said content creator Rachel Howie, known as DontRachQuit on Twitch.

"When the jumps in quality are bigger, they feel more worthwhile."

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."