Your ageing PS4 isn't going to die any time soon

Sony has given the clearest indication yet that the PlayStation 4 is far from being abandoned during a business segment meeting yesterday.

The console maker was talking up how the PS5 is selling (calling it the most profitable console launch it's ever overseen), but as part of that parcel it admitted that half of its monthly active users are still on the PS4.

That means the PlayStation 4 "is still an important part" of Sony's ongoing business, in news that won't thrill those looking for games that use the PS5's power to push forward technically. 

Hideaki Nishino, one of the new CEOs at PlayStation said, as transcribed by VGC: "As you can see, the PlayStation 5 user base has continued to grow significantly, driving to half of our monthly active consoles. While the PlayStation 4 is still an important part of our business, our PlayStation 5 players are even more engaged than in our previous generation, and we expect these trends to continue."

This doesn't mean that Sony will all of a sudden drop its plans and make all of its forthcoming games work on both PS4 and PS5, obviously. Rather, it just underlines the fact that this console generation has a narrower gap compared to previous ones, and that millions of gamers haven't made the jump yet. 

You only have to take a look at huge franchises like Call of Duty and EA Sports FC to – they're both continuing to release cross-generation games by default, rather than abandoning players who remain on older hardware.

The needle will doubtless be pushed in a big way in late 2025, though, when Grand Theft Auto VI finally arrives and is exclusive to PS5 and Xbox Series X/S – that's a tentpole release, and a true system-seller. 

Returning to the silver linings that Sony is drawing from its stats, it says that gamers on PS5 are spending both more time and money in-game than their equivalents on PS4. It's apparently aiming to use peripherals like the PS Portal to introduce more people to the PlayStation ecosystem, too, which is an enticing idea.