Playstation is going to end up dead on the water this generation and quite possibly the next generation as well.

Playstation currently is already doing bad enough that they have to release their exclusives on pc after 2 years on the playstation. Which is to say, the only advantage playstation has for games is that the games arrive two years earlier on the playstation.

Playstation in the current generation has also had the biggest game release failure of all time, with concord pretty much making 0$ worth of revenue on the game Concord with a budget of 200 million USD.

Playstation on the ps5 definitely has some games that use the hardware well enough that they wouldn't be able to run on the ps4. The gap while not as huge as the gap felt between the ps2 and the ps3, or perhaps even the ps3 and late gen ps4, is still large enough as to be noticeable. The issue the ps5 faces now is that the core ps5 hardware has likely already reached its limits for a good quality gaming experience if games are to be visually improved any further, which is why they had to release the ps5 pro for a mid-gen refresh.

In terms of performance improvements the ps5 pro is a decent machine. If offers a 45% improvement in performance when compared to the base ps5, which is a decent enough increase in capabilities as to allow game developers to really take advantage of so as to create far better games for the platform. The primary issue lies in the pricing of the new ps5 pro model. With costs 699 USD/ 799 Euros. The base playstation 5 in comparison costs 499 USD. For most people, a mid tier pc purchased at 699 USD would make for a better deal than a 699 ps5 pro. Especially taking into account that the stand for the ps5 pro and attaching a disk drive to it both have additional costs and are not available with the 699 USD purchase.

That is to say, the ps5 pro has priced itself out of the market. It has become a product that only Americans can afford and for the most part even Americans do not want to pay that much for a playstation based on all the comments posted online about the product.

Comparing the competition: Microsoft games.

Microsoft and Xbox have the primary advantage that Microsoft unlike the playstation is not exclusively a platform first in the gaming industry. When the xbox releases its games for the pc, those games are still running on a microsoft product ( windows ). This allows Microsoft to benefit far more from the current generation open platform gaming environment than the playstation ever could. While the Xbox has not had any out of the world exclusives on the platform this generation, it has certainly had the benefit of having no great losses either.

The primary disadvantage for the Xbox Series X is that it has sold around one third of the consoles that the ps5 has sold so far. This gap is likely to be covered in the future not by increasing Xbox sales but by declining playstation sales instead. While the playstation appears to be chasing after an ever richer customer base, microsoft appears to be sticking to the tried and tested affordable to the average middle class Joe sales tactic for their consoles.

All Microsoft has to do to win or get closer to winning is to maintain the current trajectory when it comes to pricing.

Next generation consoles : What does the future hold for Playstation and Xbox

It is safe to assume that the PS6 when it releases is going to have the same price point as the playstation pro today or an even higher price tag. It is highly likely that nobody would be willing to pay that price tag for the playstation 6 unless the playstation 6 is 10 times more powerful than a playstation 5 to say the least. The Playstation 2 ended up being the best selling console of all time. The playstation 4 the second best selling playstation console of all time. The Playstation 3 the third best selling and the ps5 lags far behind at the fourth best selling. Following this trend line, it is highly likely that the ps6 will sell even lower numbers than the ps5. Similarly, the Xbox Series X has had far lower sales numbers than even the original Xbox or Xbox one, signifying that in the next generation the Xbox can also be expected to keep declining in sales. It appears that console generations might end simply due to everybody losing interest in buying consoles to play games anymore.

What went wrong?

It is hard to say but the most likely answer is a combination of:

1. Lack of exclusives that are as exciting as the last generation - All playstation games will at some point be available on PC as well ( Except for astrobot perhaps ). Similarly Xbox games are available of the microsoft game store on pc. Nobody really wants to buy a console just for 1 or 2 exclusive games that they would otherwise not be able to play.

2. Lack of a jump in the quality of gaming - The leap between the ps1 and the ps2 was the largest. The leap between the ps3 and the ps4 was smaller, and the leap between the ps4 and the ps5 was so small that they were releasing ps5 games for the ps4 for half of the ps5 lifecycle. There is no space left for consoles to improve 5-10x in quality anymore, and it is impossible to woo a customer to buy a product across 7-8 years by telling them the newer model runs smoother at 30 more framerates. That point alone is not a good enough selling point for most customers out of buy gaming consoles.

3. Nintendo ate their lunch - Nintendo has successfully managed to continue keeping a closed ecosystem for their games. Nintendo Switch is the cheapest high end gaming console around at the original price of 299 USD in 2017, and provides the most fun games for the core audience of children that video games were originally meant for. As of now Nintendo switch is one of the best selling games in the world and rising in sales still, only surpassed by the Nintendo DS and the playstation 2.

4. The PC has clear noticeable advantages over consoles now - Steam on PC makes it very easy to buy and keep track of games. PC gaming is the largest market for online gaming. The FPS market is the biggest market for gaming and shooting with a mouse and keyboard is far more accurate than shooting with a gaming console controller. The PC allows for far greater options in modding games than the playstation or Xbox. Playstation had the advantage with storytelling games but they threw it away with DEI games which ruins the experience ( looking at you Last of US 2 ).

Conclusion:

Console gaming is dying. It will probably be dead in another 2-3 generations at most. You are better off buying a pc which everybody buys anyways rather than buying a pc and then buying a gaming console separately.

Writing IQ 115

Voice level :

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