Explain why new generations of Sony PlayStation and Microsoft Xbox game consoles could be a huge mistake for these companies.
Remember how awesome Windows 9 was? No? But you should definitely remember the iPhone 9. Also by?
Shducks jokingly, but due to superstition this figure is constantly bypassed. In Japan, they do not like her, since the pronunciation is consonant with “pain” and “torment”, and in numerology a nine means not only happiness, but also death. CEOs of large companies seem to be reluctant to take the risk and also avoid that number in their product names.
Despite this, the industry is preparing for the transition to the ninth generation of gaming systems, which will begin with the release of the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X. Technically, Nintendo has already started a new phase with its Switch, but gamers are still counting on the new consoles from Microsoft and Sony. By coincidence or the magic of numbers, the ninth generation could really be a disaster for the industry, and today we’ll figure out why.
New toys
Concerns appear already at the stage of parsing the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X themselves. The exact characteristics of the company have not been announced, but gamers have learned a lot from both Sony and Microsoft themselves and from sources. For example, the companies have confirmed that they will supply set-top boxes with AMD processors based on Zen 2 architecture and Navi graphics cards from the same manufacturer. According to Sony and Microsoft, the consoles will have enough power for 120FPS, and for 8K, and even for ray tracing. Separately, of course, but still impressive.
More information on the technical specifications was presented by a journalist from Digital Foundry, who cites a leak from an AMD test lab. According to him, the power of the PlayStation 5 will be 9.2 teraflops, while the Xbox Series X produces all 12 teraflops. The difference is significant, and Microsoft didn’t lie when it promised players the most powerful console ever. Still, Xbox fans should put the champagne back in the refrigerator.
The author of the leak notes that Sony is trying to balance with the PlayStation 5 on the brink of a powerful but affordable device. Microsoft is preparing a strong man, voracious in every sense. The exact prices of the new generation consoles are not named, but various sources hang a reasonable $ 400 on the PlayStation 5, and the Xbox Series X is credited with all $ 700.
The price will be the first hurdle for players who want to move to the ninth generation. This is especially true for Xbox fans who will have to fork out if analysts are right. It’s not so much a matter of money as of having to buy a new console.
Photo: The Last of Us 2
We are good here too
At the launch of the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, gamers complained that they were lacking in games. The scale will increase in the next generation. Third-party studios are gradually announcing projects for the ninth generation of consoles, but Sony and Microsoft are still silent.
This is not surprising, because the Japanese still have The Last of Us 2 and Ghost of Tsushima in their plans, and the “soft” ones have not released Halo Infinite. All of these games were originally planned for the eighth generation of consoles, and will only be released on the cusp of the ninth. PlayStation 4 and Xbox One gamers will get what they promise, but these projects will also be included in the PS 5 and Series X launch lineup.
Here, the owners of the eighth generation consoles have a head start, since they do not have to buy consoles at the start to play exclusives. Still, in the next three years, this will not have to be done, at least for PlayStation users.
Since then Sony has sold 106 million PS4 consoles and the company is not going to say goodbye to this audience so easily. Sony directly announced this at a presentation for shareholders, saying that it plans to support the eighth generation console for another three years. It is possible that Microsoft will do the same with at least the Xbox One X.
If platform owners don’t abandon their set-top boxes, then third-party developers won’t. For example, the last game for the PlayStation 2 was released in 2013, already at the start of the PlayStation 4. Then it was FIFA 14, but the current generation of consoles is still capable of producing a good picture, and the developers will take advantage of this.
Photo: FIFA
So at the beginning of the ninth generation, most likely, some of the major releases will be duplicated for the previous generation. At the very least, Activision, Electronic Arts and Ubisoft will not miss out on such a large audience on the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. In turn, players will not rush to change the platform.
The ninth generation is ” unnecessary”
It is worth clarifying here that we are talking about a mass audience. There are already two billion gamers on Earth, but they are all scattered across different platforms, and much less considers themselves to be “hardcore” players. Moreover, the figure of 2 billion is slightly exaggerated, since in such calculations any person who plays is called a ” gamer”. Even a grandmother who spends her leisure time in mobile match 3 is technically considered a gamer.
Some of those ” harddoor gamers” will switch to new platforms on the day of the start of sales, but the so-called ” casual players” will remain in the eighth generation. Most likely, FIFA will be coming to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One for another five years, and we will even see some new Call of Duty. It is possible that exclusive games will be ported to the previous generation. If not immediately, then with a slight delay.
It just makes no sense for developers to miss out on a large layer of players who don’t care about generational change. Many people buy a console to play MK or FIFA with friends. If such gamers will switch to a new generation, then only a few years later, when the consoles become cheaper. Plus, the PS4 and Xbox One have plenty of power to run beautiful games like Red Dead Redemption 2.
Photo: Destiny 2
Services decide
Games-services can be another stopping factor. Fortnite, Apex Legends, Rainbow Six Siege, Destiny 2 and other projects with a similar distribution model have amassed large audiences on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. There is a layer of gamers who do not follow the news, since they spend most of their time in games-services. Even I often put new releases in the drawer to finish off the quest for another gun in Destiny 2.
Here the question is brewing – why should a player who mainly plays Fortnite switch to a new generation? For better graphics? In the heat of battle, I don’t think players have time to count pixels on weapons and trees.
The only thing that the developers could really lure the players with is ray tracing, the so-called RTX, but not everything is clear with it. The fact is that the technology looks cool on paper – volumetric lighting, realistic shadows, and so on. Yet in practice, the difference in the image is so minimal that you notice it only in a detailed direct comparison.
The only thing that the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X might be interested in is its fast downloads. However, due to increased graphics and system load, this difference may also become imperceptible.
Photo: Fortnite
In addition, the developers will not abandon support for games on the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Even more, we are moving into an era where sequels are just big add-ons. Think of Overwatch 2. Blizzard will introduce several exclusive modes, but the multiplayer will remain the same with the original Overwatch, and the games will also receive the same content updates. The same is with Path of Exile 2, which basically differs from the first part only in the set of classes.
Developers don’t want to miss out on the audience of their original games, let alone entire platforms.
The main enemy
In fact, the main enemy of the ninth generation is games, namely the large library of the eighth generation and the lack of significant projects on the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X. Modern gamers have too many temptations to stay with the consoles of the current generation, and Sony and Microsoft have not yet offered good reasons for upgrading the hardware. Companies understand this themselves, so they rely on backward compatibility.
For example, the Xbox Series X will not only be able to run games from the Xbox One, but it will also support legacy controllers. This is done in order to facilitate the transition of the player to the new generation as much as possible. In turn, Sony offers only backward compatibility with games, but as said by the director of Sony Interactive Entertainment Jim Ryan, the company still has trump cards.
Still, it is worthwhile to understand that now we are talking about a possible commercial failure. Fans of Sony and Microsoft have already saved up for next-generation consoles. Another part of gamers is still in doubt and, most likely, will wait several years for the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X to acquire a large library. The triangle is closed by the mass audience, which also holds a large chunk of sales and sees no point in switching to a new generation.
