Thanks to court documents, Microsoft has just spilled the beans on when it expects the next-generation video game consoles will arrive.
On Thursday, Microsoft filed a 77-page document in a US court defending its bid to buy Activision Blizzard, which the US Federal Trade Commission is seeking to stop.
IGN reviewed the document and noticed that Microsoft alludes to a potential 2028 launch date for the next-generation consoles. The topic comes up when Microsoft recounts its talks with Sony about a 10-year deal to keep Activision’s Call of Duty franchise on the PlayStation platform.
Microsoft offered the 10-year term in the hopes Sony would stop fighting its bid to buy Activision. Interestingly, the company then notes: “This term would in any case go beyond the expected starting period of the next generation of consoles (in 2028). Thus, Call of Duty will be published on successor PlayStation consoles should one be released during the term of the agreement.”
That means we’ll have to wait another five years for the next Xbox and the PlayStation 6, according to Microsoft’s projections. Of course, things could change. But it’s not the first time the 2028 launch date has been hinted at.
Back in November, Sony itself also brought up the next-generation consoles in a filing to UK regulators about the Microsoft-Activision deal. “Microsoft has offered to continue making Activision’s games available on PlayStation only until 2027,” Sony said at the time.
The company then added that by the time it launched the next-generation PlayStation, “it would have lost access to Call of Duty and other Activision titles, making it extremely vulnerable to consumer switching and subsequent degradation in its competitiveness.” This suggested that Sony plans on launching the PS6 by at least 2028.
