When Will Sony Stop Making Games for the PS4?

It’s fair to say that the PS4 is one of the most successful consoles of all time.

According to IGN’s numbers, the PS4 has sold around 117 million units at time of writing, which cements its place as the fifth best-selling console ever. (In case you’re wondering, the PS2 holds the top spot.)

That statistic alone should probably tell you one of the major reasons Sony is still making games for the PS4, or at the very least, the reason that third-party publishers are.

The question “when will Sony stop making games for the PS4?” is one that’s often asked, and it’s often because PS4 owners want to know when they’ll need to upgrade their console if they haven’t already.

There are a few points to consider when thinking about Sony ceasing production of PS4 games, so let’s get into it!

Technically, Sony already seems to have stopped making PS4 games

In 2024, only one Sony-published game was released at retail for the PS4: MLB The Show 24. That’s a similar situation to 2023, which also only saw one Sony game making it to the PS4.

Sony’s slate of upcoming (at time of writing, anyway) games includes Astro Bot, Lego Horizon Adventures, and the upcoming Until Dawn remake, and none of them are slated to come to PS4.

In many ways, that speaks volumes about Sony’s opinion regarding the PS4; it’s clear that the company is focusing fully on the PS5 now, and that the PS4 probably won’t see many more first-party PlayStation games.

As such, the technical answer to the question “when will Sony stop making PS4 games?” is that the company already has, unfortunately. If you want to play the latest PlayStation games, you’re probably better off buying a PS5.

Third-party publishers are still making games for the PS4

Although Sony may have stepped away from the PS4, that doesn’t mean new games aren’t still coming out for the console on a regular basis.

At time of writing, several major releases are set to arrive on PS4, including EA Sports FC 25, Sonic X Shadow Generations, and Bokeh Game Studio’s Slitterhead, among others.

As such, the fact that Sony has moved away from PlayStation 4 publishing doesn’t mean that there’s nothing to play on the PS4, and it means the PS4 is also far from dead, at least for now.

That sends a rather interesting signal in terms of when the PS4 will stop getting new releases; it’s likely that these publishers will continue to create games for the PS4 until something changes in terms of Sony’s business strategy.

The PS4 is still being manufactured

Perhaps one of the biggest considerations when we think about when the PS4 will no longer see new releases arrive at its doors is whether or not Sony is still manufacturing the console.

At the moment, the answer to that question is “yes”, although the PS4 models currently making their way through factories are, as you might expect for a console at the end of its life cycle, somewhat limited.

In January 2021, Sony apparently said that it would cease production of all PS4 models except the standard “Slim” model, including the original PS4 and the PS4 Pro.

Then-boss Jim Ryan also announced in 2020 that the company intended to support the PS4 for “three or four years”, which explains why PS4 Slim models are still being manufactured today.

We’re coming to the end of that three-or-four-year period

It is, however, worth noting that we’re reaching the end of the period Ryan set out in his statement. After all, he made that statement in 2020, and we’re about to hit the end of 2024.

As such, it wouldn’t necessarily be a surprise if Sony stopped manufacturing the PS4 in the coming months, and when that happens, publishers will likely begin to turn away from the console.

However, that exodus isn’t likely to happen overnight. It’s likely that publishers will instead slowly stop releasing their games on last-generation hardware, especially as the market dries up.

Effectively, as more and more people move to PS5, the benefits of releasing games on PS4 become less and less obvious to publishers and developers, and so fewer games will see PS4 releases.

The final PS3 game launched thirteen years after the console’s release

Here’s an interesting little tidbit of information for you. The last game to launch on the PS3 was Shakedown Hawaii, a followup to developer Vblank’s Retro City Rampage.

The game also got a physical PS3 release two years following its digital launch, so there was technically a PlayStation 3 game released in 2022, albeit one that was already available on the system.

This does, however, demonstrate that it’s likely indie developers will continue to support the PS4, even after major publishers and developers have abandoned the console (which probably won’t happen for another year or two).

In short, there’s hope for the PS4 on the indie circuit, even if the PS3 doesn’t serve as the perfect model for predicting what will happen to the PS4.

The PS5 Pro could be about to arrive

According to rumours currently circulating, Sony could be gearing up to announce a potential PS5 Pro in the next few weeks, which would likely make a difference in terms of PS4 support.

If the PS5 Pro rumours do turn out to be true, then it’s likely developers and publishers will look to move away from the PS4 a little quicker; if more people buy the PS5 Pro, then more PS4s will likely be left in the lurch.

Of course, there’s no guarantee that the PS5 Pro will actually be announced, and even if it is, it might not cause a mass exodus away from the PS4.

Still, we’re betting that if Sony does announce a PS5 Pro in the next few weeks as the rumours suggest, then we’re likely going to see fewer and fewer PS4 games, even from indie publishers and developers.