Sony’s PS6 Plans Are Taking Shape as New DualSense Tech Points to a Major Upgrade

A new Sony patent points to tap-to-pay functionality for the DualSense, while reports claim the PS6 hardware has already reached an important stage of development.

Sony appears to be exploring some unusual ideas for the future of PlayStation, with a new patent suggesting that a future DualSense controller could include NFC functionality for payments. At the same time, new information surrounding the PS6 claims that Sony’s next-generation console hardware has reached a production-ready stage. 

The DualSense payment feature stands out because it differs from many of Sony’s previous patents. Over the years, the company has filed patents covering ideas that may never become consumer products, including experimental controller concepts and unusual hardware designs. Those patents can let companies protect an idea before another company develops something similar, even without an immediate plan to release it.

This particular concept appears more practical.

The idea involves adding an NFC chip to the DualSense controller, which allows you to use your phone with the controller when making purchases through the PlayStation Store. The controller could serve as a contactless payment terminal that provides you a quicker way to complete a transaction instead of drilling through various menus and entering payment information.

The idea is similar to how tap-to-pay works in everyday life. You can hold your phone near a payment terminal, authenticate the purchase through your device, and complete the transaction without physically using a debit or credit card. Applying that same system to a PlayStation controller could make digital purchases much quicker, although it also raises questions about how easily players could spend money on the platform.

Buying something from the PlayStation Store is already relatively straightforward. You can search for a game or add-on, add it to your cart, and pay with your PlayStation wallet or a connected credit card. Adding contactless payments would remove steps between deciding to buy something and completing the purchase, making the process more immediate.

That convenience could become especially noticeable with games that receive frequent cosmetic items and other digital purchases. If you already have your phone in your hand, tapping it against the controller could make purchasing an item almost effortless. The concern is that removing additional menus and confirmation steps could also make impulse purchases easier, particularly for players who already spend heavily on games.

The reaction to the patent also comes at a time when some PlayStation users are increasingly sensitive to changes in the platform's cost. Sony has made several moves involving PlayStation Plus pricing and subscription tiers, while the wider industry has continued investigating how to generate more revenue from existing players.

The gaming industry experienced a major increase in players during the 2020 lockdown period, when millions of people suddenly had more time at home. 

Some of those people continued playing after restrictions ended, but others eventually returned to their previous hobbies and routines. That left companies operating in a market that had settled after that period's extraordinary growth, making the existing player base increasingly important.

From that perspective, a contactless payment system could be seen as another way to make spending on PlayStation more convenient. The feature itself isn't necessarily unusual in a world where tap-to-pay is common, and using your phone for payments can be far more convenient than carrying several physical cards. 

The patent does not necessarily mean the feature will appear in a future controller, but it stands out among the ideas Sony has explored because it seems relatively easy to understand and implement. If it eventually reaches a consumer product, it could potentially become part of a future DualSense model or even the controller designed for the PS6.

The PS6 is also reportedly moving forward, with hardware leaker Kepler suggesting the console has reached the "taped out" stage. In hardware development, that term generally refers to a design reaching a point where it is ready to move toward production. The same information reportedly points to a handheld PlayStation device being developed alongside the next-generation console.

One reported PS6 specification is a 40-teraflop GPU, although raw teraflop numbers don't necessarily tell you how a console will perform in actual games. The previous generation showed why those numbers aren't enough on their own. The XBOX Series X was marketed as having more raw graphics power than the PS5, but that difference didn't consistently translate into better-looking or better-performing games across the generation.

The more interesting part of the PS6 information is its reported GPU architecture.

The console is said to be based on RDNA 5, while the PS5 is technically based on an RDNA 1 design with some RDNA 2 features. Jumping a few generations in GPU architecture could yield giant gains in efficiency and capabilities and could provide Sony with a much more solid foundation for its next console.

It is hoped that upscaling technology will also play a large part. Sony has deployed and improved PSSR in the PS5 generation, especially with the PS5 Pro, and the reported PS6 specs suggest the next console could launch with a newer version of the tech. Instead of waiting for a Pro model to introduce a more advanced upscaling solution, Sony could build the technology into the base PS6 from the beginning.

That approach could also change how a future PS6 Pro is positioned. Rather than receiving a completely separate version of PSSR, a more powerful model could use the same technology while rendering games at higher resolutions and frame rates before upscaling. This could produce a cleaner image without making the software ecosystem as fragmented as between different console models.

The reported performance is roughly twice that of the PS5, and the hardware compares to an AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT. That would put the system in a strong position for current-generation games, particularly at 1440p with high settings. Games designed specifically for the next generation could be more challenging, especially as engines become more demanding.

Unreal Engine 6 is expected to become part of that equation eventually, and newer versions of major game engines often create additional challenges for developers. A powerful console doesn’t guarantee that future games will run smoothly, especially as developers deal with increasingly demanding technology.

Price could ultimately become one of the biggest factors surrounding the PS6. Modern gaming hardware has become increasingly expensive, and players have already faced higher prices across consoles, games, subscriptions, and accessories. A console approaching or exceeding the $1,000 range would put Sony in a difficult position because at that point, a gaming PC becomes a much more obvious alternative.

Sony could potentially address that through financing or other payment options.

A system similar to Apple's lease-to-own approach, a PlayStation credit card, or monthly payments could make an expensive console easier to purchase without requiring the entire amount upfront. Bundling additional PlayStation Plus benefits could also give consumers another reason to consider such a payment model.

The current target reportedly remains 2027, although memory costs and broader hardware supply conditions could affect the timing. If those costs remain high through 2027 and begin falling in 2028, delaying the console could allow Sony more room to reach a lower price. Launching a year later could therefore make more sense if the extra time significantly improves the hardware economics.

The rumored PlayStation handheld is another part of the next-generation plans that could attract attention. One reported approach involves rendering PS5 games internally at around 540p before using PSSR 3 to upscale the image. That resolution sounds extremely low compared with a television, but it can work differently on a smaller display where individual pixels are packed much more closely together.

The same principle is already visible on devices such as the Steam Deck, where games can render at lower resolutions and then upscale to the handheld's display resolution. A low-resolution image can look much more acceptable on a small screen than on a large 4K television. 

All of this points toward Sony preparing for a significant transition. The PS6 hardware is reportedly progressing toward production, a handheld is reportedly in development, and the company is exploring new ways to integrate payment technology into its controllers. The biggest questions now are how these technologies translate into actual products, and perhaps more importantly, how much Sony expects players to pay for them.