Skip to main content

Intel almost designed the chip for the PlayStation 6

An Intel Foundry employee holds a chip between fingertips.
Intel

AMD has been at the heart of Sony’s consoles for the last two generations, but a new report suggests Intel was close to designing the chip inside the unannounced PlayStation 6. Intel and AMD were caught up in a bidding war to design and manufacture the chip for the console, but Intel ultimately lost out on the contract, reports Reuters.

According to the report, negotiations with Intel fell apart over how much profit the company would earn from each chip it sold to Sony. Sources who spoke with Reuters say that these discussions took place over several months in 2022 and included the CEOs from both Intel and AMD, as well as “dozens of engineers and executives.”

Recommended Videos

Outside of a profit dispute, the report claims that backward compatibility was a concern for Sony. The PS4, PS5, and upcoming PS5 Pro all use AMD hardware, so compatibility with previous generations would have been at risk had it gone with Intel. On a PC, you don’t have to worry about compatibility much between AMD and Intel. But a console, which is built with specific software and its own operating system, could introduce compatibility issues.

We also saw some of what can happen with weak software when Intel first introduced its Arc A750 and A770 graphics cards. Similarly, the MSI Claw handheld faced issues with its Intel chip as well. It’s the first handheld gaming PC to use an Intel chip, and it struggled in both performance and battery life against AMD-powered devices like the Asus ROG Ally X.

Intel has seen financial issues over the last several months. The company reported historically low revenue, causing investors to sue, and it announced it would layoff about 15% of its workers. In addition, Intel recently canceled its 20A node on its public road map, and will instead move resources to 18A, for which Intel has secured contracts with Microsoft and the U.S. Department of Defense. Securing a contract for the PS6, according to Reuters, would have resulted in around $30 billion in revenue.

Although AMD and Intel were the final companies at the negotiation table, the report says others, such as Broadcom, were considered for the PS6 as well. “We strongly disagree with this characterization, but are not going to comment about any current or potential customer conversations,” an Intel spokesperson said to Reuters in a statement.

Jacob Roach
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Jacob Roach is the lead reporter for PC hardware at Digital Trends. In addition to covering the latest PC components, from…
PS5 controllers now work even better with your PC
A hand holds a DualSense Edge.

Sony is extending its reach into the PC gaming world with the introduction of its new PlayStation Accessories app. The new application allows players to fully customize the DualSense Edge controller directly from their Windows PCs.

Offering a suite of customization options that were previously only available on the PlayStation 5, PC gamers can adjust stick sensitivity, button mapping, and trigger dead zones, among other settings. This level of customization brings the PS5’s premium controller experience to a broader audience, making it a compelling choice for PC gamers looking for a high-quality controller with a wealth of options.

Read more
Intel’s downfall hurts everyone
intel downfall hurts everyone dt respec

Intel can't catch a break. The instability saga we've witnessed over the past few months, along with a historically disastrous earnings report for the company, has led Intel into some pretty bleak territory. The company even postponed its Innovation event this year; meanwhile, shareholders are filing a lawsuit against Team Blue. No matter how you slice it, Intel is having a bad time right now.

There's a lot of understandable anger pointed Intel's way right now, from game developers saying they're going to lose money, to gamers who say they've been denied returns, to shareholders that claim Intel fraudulently hid how bad things were. Those are all legitimate things to be frustrated about, and I understand the satisfaction you might feel when a company gets what it deserves.

Read more
Game dev on Intel’s unstable CPUs: ‘I might lose over $100K’
Intel's 14900K CPU socketed in a motherboard.

Intel's best processors have been crashing for months, and despite many attempts, the issue is nowhere near being fixed. In fact, the impact might be far worse than we thought.

Original reports about stability issues with the Core i9-13900K and the Core i9-14900K came from PC gamers, but now, we're hearing that they're crashing in servers, too. That can lead to serious damage, with one game dev estimating the instability may cost them up to $100K in lost players.

Read more