Since its launch back in 2013, the PlayStation 4 has proven to be a very successful console for its generation. However, it seems that its running out of time, as Sony is already planning the next generation of console gaming. Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO, Tsuyoshi “John” Kodera, recently spoke to the Wall Street Journal about their plans.

Kodera revealed that Sony wants to spend three more years readying its next videogame move. However, that would mark a slight slowdown in the six-to-seven-year update cycle for the console since the first one in 1994.  “We will use the next three years to prepare the next step, to crouch down so that we can jump higher in the future,” said Kodera.

The CEO previously released his first three-year business plan the day before his Wall Street Journal interview. It included a conservative forecast for the videogame business, seeing operating profit in the final fiscal year of the plan, ending March 2021, slightly lower than the $1.6 billion it made in the year ended March 2018.

For the PS4 itself, Sony has been shifting its PlayStation focus from hardware to online subscription services. Of course, this refers to their PlayStation Plus membership service, which has 34 million users as of March.  Mr. Kodera also said the network-services side of PlayStation is changing the way Sony thinks about product introductions.

“We need to depart from the traditional way of looking at the console life cycle,” he said. “We’re no longer in a time when you can think just about the console or just about the network like they’re two different things.”

And it looks like Sony is taking example from rival Nintendo. He says that looking at ways to better incorporate mobility into the PlayStation, something the Switch successfully did. This is because gamers can use the Switch as both a mobile gaming platform, as well as a home console. And while Sony already has the PS Vita, Mr. Kodera said that when it comes to mobility, the company doesn’t want to limit itself to a single dedicated device. “We need a broader perspective than that because so many things are now connected via the internet,” he said.

source: Wall Street Journal