Sony, AMD Discuss Graphics 'Breakthroughs' That Could Power the PS6

Sony and AMD had announced a collaboration on machine learning-based technology for improved graphics and gameplay, codenamed Project Amethyst, in December 2024. Now, the two companies have shared an update on the initiative and future gaming hardware, and referenced Sony's next-generation console hardware, the PlayStation 6.

In a new video shared on the PlayStation YouTube channel on Thursday, Jack Huynh, senior vice president and general manager for computing and graphics at AMD, sat down with Sony's Mark Cerny, the lead architect of the PS5 and PS5 Pro, to discuss gaming “breakthroughs” the two firms have been working on.

In the nearly nine-minute discussion, Cerny also referenced Sony's next console, the PS6, likely taking advantage of the technological advancements achieved through the PlayStation parent and AMD's collaboration on graphics hardware.

“Overall, of course, it's still very early days for these technologies,” Cerny said towards the end of the chat. “They only exist in simulation right now, but the results are quite promising, and I'm really excited about bringing them to a future console in a few years' time.”

Sony, AMD Discuss Graphics 'Breakthroughs'

Earlier in the video, Cerny and Huynh detailed “Neural Arrays”, a new technology that Sony and AMD have worked on that is claimed to make computing capabilities of the GPU more efficient. With Neural Arrays, the compute units of a GPU can share data and process tasks together. Cerny said the resulting efficiency would be a “game-changer” for the next generation of upscaling and denoising technologies like AMD's FSR and Sony's PSSR.

The two also talked about ray tracing technology as another area of focus in Sony and AMD's collaboration. The companies detailed “Radiance Cores”, a new dedicated hardware block that handles ray tracing and path tracing in real time. Huynh said Radiance Cores would push lighting performance in games to “a whole new level”.

Cerny and Huynh mentioned other technical features that could make their way to Sony's next console and games on other platforms, as well. “We're so excited to bring these innovations to developers across every gaming platform,” Huynh said.

Sony and AMD had announced their collaboration in December 2024, back when Cerny presented a deep dive into the PS5 Pro's technical features. AMD reportedly won the contract to design and fabricate Sony's PlayStation 6 chip over Intel in 2022.

Earlier this year, a leaker claimed that the design of the chip that would power the PS6 was reportedly complete, and Sony could begin producing the SoC for testing in late 2025. That timeline would place the PS6 launch window at some point in 2027.

On the other hand, court documents from Microsoft's US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) trial over its attempt to acquire Activision Blizzard in 2023 revealed that the Xbox parent believed its next-gen Xbox console and Sony's PS6 would launch in 2028. Sony has not shared its plans for its next-gen console yet.

More recently in August, a leak claimed that Sony was working on a PS6 handheld device alongside a traditional PS6 home console, which would be powered by an AMD APU.