Rumors surrounding Sony and Microsoft’s next gaming consoles indicate both will use AMD’s next generation of graphics. AMD has yet to confirm a name for its RDNA 4 successor, but there are a few floating around, such as UDNA, RDNA 5, and possibly even Radeon RX 10000. The latter would likely only happen should NVIDIA continue with its current naming convention and AMD follow. Still, even then, these particular naming conventions are usually reserved for graphics card GPUs and not the custom APUs used in console gaming systems.
In any case, well-known AMD information leaker Kepler has once again been posting on NeoGaf about what could be in the works, and the latest indicates that both the next Xbox, possibly being called Series 2, and PlayStation 6 will use AMD’s latest graphics when they release. Kepler shared several other details (1, 2, 3) on NeoGaf and X regarding potential chip configurations for both console manufacturers.
Current rumor breakdown:
- UDNA claim for both consoles: “The PS6 and next gen Xbox both use UDNA for GPU arch.”
- When asked about a release date for either: “Both are likely 2027, but I do know (and other people like HeisenbergFX4 have mentioned it too) that Microsoft wants to get ahead of PS6 so 2026 could be possible, specially given they’re releasing all their big titles next year (Halo CE Remake, Forza Horizon 6, Gears of War E-Day)”.
- Regarding manufacturer-specific customizations: “MS/Sony vastly overstate the degree of customizations they make, most of the time it’s re-adding features that AMD removed in recent architectures to enable backwards compatibility or removing features they don’t use. In terms of actual CPU or GPU performance it’s 99% AMD’s work that matter.”
- Performance gains over RNDA4: “Probably 20%-ish for raster perf/CU and around 2x for RT/AI perf.”
- If either will feature 3D V-Cache: “No”
- Clarification regarding raytracing performance uptick: “2x RT perf doesn’t mean that FPS is doubled, it means that the RT portion of a frametime is halved.”
Microsoft officially confirmed renewing its partnership with AMD last week for its Xbox consoles. Microsoft has recently also entered the gaming handheld market via a partnership with ASUS, which will be the first to get a product to market very soon, while Microsoft continues to align its internal resources for further development of an updated Xbox/Windows app. Microsoft has, for now, paused development of its own handheld while more work is being done on the software side to assist other potential manufacturers who may decide to make an Xbox gaming handheld.
On the other side of the fence is Sony, which has said little to nothing about the PlayStation 6 but is likely to retain its partnership with AMD as well. While NVIDIA, which provides custom chips to Nintendo for its Switch consoles, has mentioned courting Sony and Microsoft to use its graphics for future consoles, it’s unlikely Sony would switch given the added challenges in supporting backwards compatibility for previous-gen games, something gamers are keen to want with any new console. Both console makers have used NVIDIA for previous generations, but have been working with AMD for more than a decade now. Sony is also said to be working on another gaming handheld as well, and similar to Microsoft’s, will reportedly further close the gap between home consoles and mobile devices as both companies eye the successes of the Nintendo Switch and Steam Deck.