In an October 2025 technical preview, AMD and Sony Interactive Entertainment have pulled back the curtain on their next-generation gaming technologies. The presentation, titled “From Project Amethyst to the Future of Play,” details the latest fruits of a long-term technology collaboration between the two tech giants.
What is Project Amethyst?
“Project Amethyst” is the codename for this joint R&D effort, symbolically fusing AMD’s brand “red” with PlayStation’s “blue”. The project, which has already contributed to technologies like AMD’s FSR 4 and Sony’s PSSR for the PS5 Pro, is now focused on a new trio of innovations aimed at redefining in-game performance, visual immersion, and overall efficiency.
The Three Pillars of Next-Gen Tech
The preview details three core technologies:
1. Neural Arrays for Performance
The first pillar, Performance, is anchored by Neural Arrays. AMD describes this as a “collection of compute units” that are connected to function as a “single, focused AI engine”. This new architecture is designed to be more efficient for large machine learning (ML) workloads and is poised to unlock the “next-generation of Neural Rendering”.
2. Radiance Cores for Immersion
To enhance visual Immersion, AMD introduced Radiance Cores. This is new “dedicated ray traversal hardware” built to deliver “high performance real-time raytracing and path tracing”. By offloading these intensive tasks to dedicated cores, the technology “frees up shader cores” to work on the rest of the scene, a move AMD states will result in “higher FPS with immersive visuals”.
3. Universal Compression for Efficiency
The final pillar, Efficiency, is addressed by a new system called Universal Compression. This technology “evaluates and compresses all available data within the GPU,” not just textures. The goal is to “dramatically reduce memory bandwidth usage,” which in turn “enables new levels of performance with greater efficiency”.
The Road to PlayStation 6 and PC Gaming
While the presentation is an “Early Technical Preview,” the implications are significant. PlayStation’s lead system architect, Mark Cerny, noted that while these new technologies “only exist in simulation right now,” he is “really excited about bringing them to a ‘future console in a few years’ time”. This comment has fueled widespread speculation that these advancements are foundational for the unannounced PlayStation 6.
The advancements from Project Amethyst are not exclusive to consoles. The technologies are also expected to power future AMD GPUs, making them a cornerstone of the company’s next-generation strategy for the PC market as well.
