Since it is decidedly failing to meet the demand for PS5s, Sony has resolved to manufacture more PS4s in 2022, according to information reported by Bloomberg. The manufacturer thus hopes to maintain its presence on the shelves somewhat.
More than a year after its launch, the PlayStation 5 remains today a rare and coveted commodity, which can only be offered to very lucky players or those showing the most self-sacrifice. The cause is unprecedented demand from consumers, but also of course the shortage of electronic components that has raged since 2020 and prevents the company from accelerating production as much as it would like. Faced with this inextricable situation, Sony has decided to delay the retirement of the PlayStation 4, whose production should be maintained throughout the year 2022.
This is the information reported by the always very knowledgeable Takashi Mochizuki of Bloomberg. The economic journalist thus says to know, from an internal source, that the company has ordered from its suppliers the manufacture of a million additional machines – a figure that can be adjusted during the year according to the evolution of demand. .
It would appear that this is a program change for Sony. Even though no end-of-production plan has ever been formalized, Mochizuki claims to have learned that the initial intention was to stop the lines at the end of 2021.
A likely premature slowdown in PS4 deliveries
It’s no secret that Sony was aiming to act on the transition from PS4 to PS5 as quickly as possible. The company had also ended the manufacture of the PS4 Pro model even before the release of the PS5 in November 2020, precisely in order to reallocate the production lines to the next-generation console. No one yet suspected that it would not be the capacity of the assembly plants that would limit production anyway, but the historical shortage of components to come.
As for the production of the standard PS4 Slim, it had certainly been maintained, but all the same brutally slowed down in 2021: only 1.7 million machines were distributed from January to September – compared to 7.2 million units passed in 2020, a year already very marked by the difficulties of transporting goods and the shift of consumers’ attention to the PS5.
But it would seem that this slowdown was premature, judging by the current state of the market. In France in particular, a country historically very attached to the PlayStation brand, it has led us to the somewhat gruesque situation we live in today: when we find the PS4 in stores (which is far from being systematic), it continues to sell at a price of € 300 equivalent to that of the Xbox Series S, despite the seven years of age that separate them. These few additional consoles will therefore probably not be too much to satisfy the appetite of buyers.
Several more big games on the calendar, thanks to cross-gen
The fact is, moreover, that the PS4 will still be a topical console in 2022. Because, on the gaming side, the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic has been felt just as much. The very many developmental delays it has caused result in a period “cross-gen” which lasts far beyond anything that could have been predicted, and several major titles will continue to release on the venerable console, alongside their PS5 iterations. It will start on February 18 with Horizon Forbidden West, followed on March 4 by Gran Turismo 7. As for God of War Ragnarök, the noise of the corridors indicates a release planned at the very end of the year … or even already postponed in 2023. We can therefore still find some good time to spend with the machine with 116 million copies sold to date .