The ninth generation of video game consoles began in November 2020 with the releases of Microsoft's Xbox Series X and Series S console family and Sony's PlayStation 5.
Compared to the eighth generation consoles Xbox One and PlayStation 4, the new consoles add faster computation and graphics processors, support for real-time ray tracing graphics, output for 4K resolution, and in some cases, 8K resolution, with rendering speeds targeting 60 frames per second (FPS) or higher. Internally, both console families introduced new internal solid-state drive (SSD) systems to be used as high-throughput memory and storage systems for games to reduce or eliminate loading times and support in-game streaming. The Xbox Series S and the PlayStation 5 Digital Edition lack an optical drive while retaining support for online distribution and storing games on external USB devices.
Despite much weaker processing power and already previously competing with eighth-generation consoles, the original Nintendo Switch has also been noted as a competitor to ninth-generation consoles, particularly with the introduction of the "OLED Model" revision in 2021; a successor, the Nintendo Switch 2, was released in June 2025. Other handheld personal computer devices such as the Steam Deck introduced means to play Linux games, as well as most Windows games through Proton, on-the-go, further expanding hardware competition in the generation.
Background The duration from the eighth generation until the start of the ninth was one of the longest in history, having started on November 18, 2012, with the release of Nintendo's Wii U. Past generations typically had five-year windows as a result of Moore's law, but Sony and Microsoft instead launched mid-console redesigns the PlayStation 4 Pro and Xbox One X between November 10, 2016 and November 7, 2017. Microsoft also launched a monthly console lease program, with the option to buy or upgrade. Some analysts believed these factors signaled the first major shift away from the idea of console generations because the potential technical gains of new hardware had become nominal.
Microsoft and Sony had announced their new consoles in 2019 for release by the end of 2020, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. When the pandemic struck in March 2020, it impacted both marketing and production of the consoles. The cancelled E3 2020 had been planned as a major venue to premiere the consoles, and instead both Microsoft and Sony turned to online showcases to highlight the systems and launch games. Both companies acknowledged that the pandemic had strained their production supplies due to hardware manufacturing slowdowns starting in March 2020, but would not impact their console release windows, and they set consumer expectations that console supplies would likely be limited in the launch window and would slowly become more relaxed as the pandemic waned. This created a wave of scalping through online stores, which was countered by manufacturers and vendors. The then-ongoing global chip shortage continued to affect console shipments through the end of 2021, with Sony warning of lower production numbers during the final calendar quarter of the year and into 2022; this also affected Nintendo's Switch console production rates and Valve's plans to release the portable Steam Deck handheld gaming computer, from its planned December 2021 release date to February 2022.
A combination of factors including the global memory supply shortage, tariffs placed by the United States, and later the 2026 Iran war had led to both Sony and Microsoft to raise the base prices of their systems during 2025 and 2026.
Home consoles PlayStation 5
The PlayStation 5 was developed by Sony as the successor to the PlayStation 4 and was first released on November 12, 2020. The primary goal of the PlayStation 5's development was to reduce loading times in games, particularly those that use in-game streaming such as when the player moves across an open world. Sony developed a custom solid-state drive (SSD) architecture based on a 12-channel, 825 GB SSD along with a fast software decompression method that enables an input/output speed of up to 8 to 9 GB/s. In most early development tests, this virtually eliminated loading screens and masking loading times for open world games. The main system is backed by an AMD Zen 2 system on a chip running at a variable frequency capped at 3.5 GHz, and a RDNA 2 GPU also running at a variable frequency capped at 2.23 GHz. The GPU has a total potential processing power of 10.28 teraflops. The system comes with 16 GB of memory.
The PlayStation 5 was launched with two models. The base model includes an optical disc reader for most disc formats including Blu-ray, UHD Blu-ray, and retail PlayStation 5 games. A cheaper Digital model lacks the disc reader, but otherwise is equivalent to the base model. Both models support expanded memory options to store games and other data onto external drives, thus allowing players to obtain and store games through online distribution via the PlayStation Store. The PlayStation 5 has mostly complete backward compatibility with PlayStation 4 games, with only a limited number of games not currently supported on the console, while the PlayStation Now cloud service is available for users to play games from the older PlayStation consoles.
Mid-generation revision of both PlayStation 5 models were announced in late 2023, both unofficially considered the PlayStation 5 Slim. The units are to replace the two original PlayStation 5 models; both will have a slimmer design as well as 1 TB of internal storage and additional USB ports. The more expensive model includes an optical disc drive, while the second model, the Digital Edition, will not ship with a drive, though a drive expansion kit will be available to users.
Xbox Series X and Series S
The Xbox Series X/S is the successor to the Xbox One and was released on November 10, 2020, in select regions. Microsoft followed the Xbox One's dual console models: a high-end line (the Series X comparable to the Xbox One X), and a cheaper model (the Series S comparable to the Xbox One S). The performance goal for the Xbox Series X was about four times that of the Xbox One X, but without sacrificing game development for the lower-end Xbox Series S.
Both the Xbox Series X and Series S use an AMD Zen 2 CPU and an RDNA 2 GPU but with different frequencies and compute units. The Series S has lower frequencies with reduced performance, and the Series X has graphics performance estimated at 12.155 teraflops compared to the Series S's 4.006 teraflops. Microsoft developed a Velocity Architecture, which includes an internal SSD system (1 TB on the Series X, 500 GB on the Series S) used for storing games and new DirectX interfaces with improved input/output and in-game texture streaming and rendering. The Series X includes an optical disc reader supporting Blu-ray and UHD media, which is absent in the Series S. Both consoles support external game storage media and online distribution via Xbox Live. Full backward compatibility was announced for all Xbox One games, including previously supported Xbox and Xbox 360 games but excluding Kinect games. Microsoft encouraged third-party developers and publishers to use its Smart Delivery approach to give Xbox One games free performance upgrade patches for Xbox Series X/S.
Comparison The following table includes only named released models, and does not include minor hardware revisions or redesigns, such as the "slim" model of the PlayStation 5.
Product LinePlayStation 5Xbox Series X/SNamePlayStation 5 Digital EditionPlayStation 5PlayStation 5 ProXbox Series SXbox Series XLogoImageA PS5 Digital Edition with the DualSense controllerA standard PS5 with the DualSense controllerA standard PS5 ProAn Xbox Series S with its controllerAn Xbox Series X with its controllerManufacturerSony Interactive EntertainmentMicrosoft GamingRelease datesPlayStation 5AU/JP/KR/NA/NZ/SGP: November 12, 2020PlayStation 5 Slim: Launch pricesUS$399.99499.99699.99299.99499.99€399.99499.99799.99299.99499.99GBP359.99449.99699.99249.99449.99A$599.95749.951,199.95499749JP¥39,98049,980119,98029,98049,980Current pricesUS$599.99649.99899.99399.99/449.99649.99/599.99/799.99€599.99649.99899.99349.99/399.99599.99/549.99/699.99GBP519.99569.99789.99299.99/349.99499.99/449.99/589.99A$749.95829.951,399549/599849/749/1,049JP¥55,000/89,98097,980137,98044,578/49,97866,978/59,978SalesShipped 65.5 million () 35 million ()Sold 95.3 million ()Game mediaMediaDigital distributionUHD Blu-ray, Blu-ray, digital distributionDigital distribution (UHD Blu-ray and Blu-ray with optional disc drive)Digital distributionDigital distribution (all systems)Blu-ray, DVD, CD (systems with disc drive) Regional lockout colspan="5" OtherUHD Blu-ray, Blu-ray, and DVD with optional disc driveUHD Blu-ray, Blu-ray, DVDUHD Blu-ray, Blu-ray, and DVD with optional disc driveUHD Blu-ray, Blu-ray, DVD, CD(systems with disc drive)Backward compatibilitycolspan="3" CPUTypeCustom AMD 8-core based on Zen 2 architectureISAx86-64Clock speedup to 3.5 GHz (variable) with SMT always onup to 3.85 GHz (variable) with SMT always on3.4 GHz with SMT, 3.6 GHz without SMT3.6 GHz with SMT, 3.8 GHz without SMT Process 7 nm or 6 nm 4 nm 7 nm 7 nm or 6 nmGPUTypeCustom AMD Radeon RDNA 2 architectureHybrid AMD RDNA 2 architecture with RDNA 3 features and RDNA 4 Raytracing coresCustom AMD Radeon RDNA 2 architectureClock speedup to 2.233 GHz (variable)up to 2.35 GHz (variable)1.565 GHz1.825 GHzTFLOP/sup to 10.28 TFLOPS (variable)up to 18.048 TFLOPS (variable)Sony advertised a 16.7 TFLOPS figure for the PS5 Pro, however they confirmed that the actual max GPU clock is 2.35 GHz which puts the peak TFLOPS at 18.0484.006 TFLOPS12.155 TFLOPSCompute units36 out of 40 CUs (2304 out of 2560 SMs) enabled60 CU20 out of 24 CUs (1280 out of 1536 SMs) enabled52 out of 56 CUs (3328