Conversations about the next generation of consoles have already begun, with lots of rumours about PS6 and its supposed arrival in 2027.
However, many are satisfied with what current-gen machines are capable of, and the diminishing returns offered by new, technically more powerful consoles are becoming so minute that it's difficult to imagine PS6 making a huge leap forward.
That seems to be the gist of what Shuhei Yoshida thinks, at the very least.
The former PlayStation executive, who left the company earlier this year, made an appearance on the Friends Per Second podcast, talking about his experience as a freelance consultant for indie studios as well as the future of the gaming landscape.
While talking about PlayStation in particular, Yoshida says that Sony needs to do something other than simply pushing for more power in its next-gen box.
"Graphics have almost hit to the level that — even I cannot tell the difference between some of the graphics capabilities, like ray traced or not ray traced, unless it's side by side, or higher frame rate," he says. "So PlayStation clearly, in my mind, they cannot do the same thing they have been doing — increasing the graphics power and providing the high-end experiences. They might just do that, but still, that feels like a niche audience right now."
Yoshida also brings up PlayStation's current management, who may be able to bring a fresh perspective on how the platform should evolve:
"I think it's really fitting that PlayStation has a new generation of management. [CEO Hideaki Nishino] is in his 40s, he's like 46 years old, so a much younger generation. Up until Jim Ryan, it's always been our generation, the first generation of PlayStation management, leading the company, but now Nishino and [Hermen Hulst] are much younger, so they can do something disruptive. They don't have to follow what [PlayStation has done in the past]. So yeah, it's super interesting."
When asked what Sony can do to succeed with PS6, Yoshida doesn't offer his own ideas, but instead praises the company for being able to find innovative ways to improve gaming with each new console.
"For myself, I think PS5 is an amazing system, in terms of quality of experience," he says. "I think the adoption of the SSD was almost like a miracle. I think PS5 and SSD has made almost every game a better game."
He says Sony and Mark Cerny are "so brilliant in designing and creating systems that people can really enjoy", offering up PS Portal as an example.
He says even he was sceptical of it at first, but once he used it, he understood the appeal. "So hopefully they have been cooking something that we don't know about that, when we get hold of it, we'll say 'Oh yeah, this is great'. So, fingers crossed."
His comments aren't a million miles away from those of a former God of War producer, who said triple-A studios should branch out to make smaller experiences to support the big, expensive blockbusters.