Sony Makes Firm Decision On Fate Of Disc Drive For PS6
Sony is sticking with an optical disc drive for at least one more console generation and it's decision is "firm," according to a new report. Just as Sony did with its PlayStation 5 lineup, the PlayStation 6 will support a detachable disc drive, presumably with support for Blu-ray media, and offer both a disc and disc-less digital model at launch.
Like it or not, optical media has been facing an uphill battle of relevance as digital downloads and cloud game streaming increase in popularity. This has been more pronounced in the PC gaming space where Steam has established itself as a juggernaut, along with services like Epic Games Store, GOG, and others. These days, it's not uncommon for a PC to be totally devoid of an optical disc drive.
The changing of the guard from physical to digital media hasn't been quite as swift in the console space, though Sony, Xbox, and Nintendo each have their own thriving digital storefronts. And considering that it could be another year or two before the PS6 launches, it's fair to question whether the optical disc drive would extend its reach into the next generation of consoles.
Citing "several sources" who wish to remain anonymous, the folks at Insider-Gaming say Sony is "firm" in its plans release the PS6 with a detachable disc drive. It will sell both a "traditional console" that comes bundled with a disc drive, and a "digital console" that skips the disc drive, but which can be upgraded with the separate purchase of a standalone disc drive, according to the site.
Sony's decision was reportedly made based on the PS5's disc drive hitting the company's unspecified internal targets, suggesting that it remains a popular option.
The site's sources didn't share any other concrete details, though past leaks and rumors claim the PS6 will feature a custom AMD chip with eight Zen 6 cores and somewhere in the neighborhood of 40-48 RDNA 5 computes units for the GPU portion. If the rumors prove accurate, we could be looking at a threefold increase in performance compared to the PS5.
