Xbox has come out and stated that development kits for its next console, currently codenamed Project Helix, will ship in 2027 onwards.
This means that third-party developers — big and small — won't be getting their hands on the actual hardware until 2027 at the earliest. And Xbox is talking about alpha versions of the dev kit here — so it's not even necessarily representative of the machine that games will eventually ship on.
Obviously, this reveal has cast renewed doubt on the rumours that Project Helix and the PS6 will launch in 2027.
These rumours have been doing the rounds for months now, with the most recent iteration cropping up just last week.
Well-known tech insider Moore’s Law Is Dead reiterated his belief that Sony is sticking to a late 2027 release date for PS6, despite the reveal of the aforementioned Project Helix.
This also ran contrary to a previous report based around Sony's financial outlook, which strongly suggested that the platformer holder is looking to extend the PS5's lifespan beyond what was initially planned.
What's more, there's been a Bloomberg article backing this perspective, claiming that Sony is "considering" such a delay due to chip demand and RAM prices. 2028 and 2029 were the launch years being thrown around.
So, again, Xbox's commitment to shipping dev kits in 2027 has put some additional weight behind the whisperings of an elongated generation.
But then we've got the likes of leaker KelperL2, who boasts a solid track record with regards to PlayStation-related happenings, insisting that both Sony and Microsoft are still targeting "holiday 2027" for the arrival of PS5 and Project Helix.
In short, there's a lot of contradictory information going around right now. And for what it's worth, Xbox shipping dev kits in 2027 doesn't completely rule out a release in the same year. After all, its first-party studios will likely have access to the new hardware long before then.
As we've covered previously, there are many PS5 players who aren't at all sold on the idea of the PS6 landing in 2027. In fact, most of our readers would rather wait until 2028 at the earliest.
What do you make of this? Is Xbox hinting towards a longer generation here, or does 2027 seem to be the year that it all kicks off? Take a step back in the comments section below.