Sony and AMD announced a collaboration on machine learning-based technology to improve graphics and gameplay in December 2024, codenamed Project Amethyst. Now, the two companies have shared an update on that plan and future gaming hardware, mentioning Sony’s next-gen console hardware, the PlayStation 6.
In a new video shared on the PlayStation YouTube channel on Thursday, AMD senior vice president and general manager of computing and graphics Jack Huynh sat down with PS5 and PS5 Pro lead architect Sony’s Mark Cerny to discuss the gaming “breakthroughs” the two companies have been working on.
During the nearly nine-minute discussion, Cerny also mentioned Sony’s next-generation console, the PS6, which may leverage technological advances from the PlayStation parent company’s partnership with AMD on graphics hardware.
“Of course, in general, these technologies are still in their early stages,” Cerny said toward the end of the chat. “They currently only exist in emulation, but the results are very promising and I’m excited to bring them to future consoles in a few years.”
Sony and AMD discuss graphics card “breakthrough”
Earlier in the video, Cerny and Huynh detailed the “Neural Array,” a new technology developed in partnership between Sony and AMD that is said to increase the computing power of GPUs. With neural arrays, the GPU’s computing units can share data and process tasks together. Cerny said the resulting efficiencies will be a “game changer” for next-generation upscaling and noise reduction technologies like AMD’s FSR and Sony’s PSSR.
The two also talked about ray tracing technology as another key area of cooperation between Sony and AMD. The companies detailed “Radiance Cores,” new specialized hardware modules that can handle ray tracing and path tracing in real time. Huynh says Radiance Cores will take lighting performance in games to “a whole new level.”
Cerny and Huynh mentioned other technical features that could also appear in games on Sony’s next-gen consoles and other platforms. “We’re excited to bring these innovations to developers on every gaming platform,” said Huynh.
Sony and AMD announced their partnership in December 2024, when Cerny gave an in-depth look at the technical features of the PS5 Pro. AMD reportedly beat Intel to win the contract to design and manufacture Sony PlayStation 6 chips in 2022.
Earlier this year, a leaker claimed that the design of the chip that will power the PS6 has reportedly been completed, and Sony could start producing the SoC for testing by the end of 2025. The timeline puts the PS6’s release window at some point in 2027.
On the other hand, Microsoft’s Federal Trade Commission (FTC) court documents regarding its attempted acquisition of Activision Blizzard in 2023 show that the Xbox parent company believes that its next-generation Xbox game console and Sony’s PS6 will be launched in 2028. Sony has yet to share its plans for its next-generation console.
As recently as August, news broke that Sony was developing a PS6 handheld device as well as a traditional PS6 home console, the latter of which would be powered by AMD APUs.