This means we should not see a repeat of what happened around Microsoft during this console generation.

Although no official announcement has been made yet, information from several reliable sources has made it clear that PlayStation 6 will launch alongside a handheld that should be more than capable of running current and next-gen games. At the same time, similarly to how Xbox Series S affected Xbox Series X, and probably the current console generation as a whole, there is a realistic chance that this handheld could hold back the home console, especially because of mandatory support. According to Moore’s Law is Dead, the well-known leaker who first revealed the specifications of Sony’s next-gen systems, the chances of that happening are low.

In the latest episode of the Broken Silicon podcast, the leaker commented on the expected RAM capacity of PlayStation 6 and the handheld console. Based on the specifications leaked so far, he believes the handheld will have 24 GB of RAM, while the home console will have 30 GB. While that difference may seem significant, it represents less than a 30% gap between the two devices. The VRAM difference between Xbox Series S and Xbox Series X was 60%, which is why the former holds back the latter. A difference below 30% may simply account for the resolution gap. The leaker noted that since developers will use lower-resolution textures, likely with the help of an automated system also leaked earlier this year, it is easy to assume that the final difference will not be too significant.

Throughout the current console generation, we have repeatedly seen that RAM was the biggest obstacle for developers trying to maintain feature parity between Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S. Larian Studios could not overcome that obstacle, but eventually convinced Microsoft to loosen the feature parity clause and allow Baldur’s Gate 3 to launch on Xbox consoles even though local multiplayer was initially unavailable on Xbox Series S.

Since the final specifications of PlayStation 6 and its accompanying handheld have not yet been made public, it is difficult to say whether this estimate will prove correct, or whether the industry as a whole has learned from the limitations of Xbox Series S, which created difficulties for more than a few developers. Based on the current information, however, there is at least a chance that Sony’s handheld will not function as the same kind of ballast that Microsoft’s smaller console became during this generation.

Source: WCCFTech