Xbox has a bolder ecosystem. PS4 has more popular exclusives. What if next gen launches at the same time AND price point for the first time ever?

[rahzel]

I don't see MS 'winning' any time soon. That's not to say Xbox isn't or never will be successful, just not on the level of Playstation (again, not anytime soon). The Playstation brand is simply too strong globally, and rightfully so IMO. They have consistently provided a large variety of quality games from different genres, and have a good mix of first-party and third-party support. MS is definitely on the right track, but they won't reach PS level of success overnight. The third-party support is mostly there, but until they can prove that their first-party can consistently produce quality content, from various genres, I just don't see them being as successful outside of the US/UK.

 

[Jom]

The PC is an Xbox to MS now so in a way we basically all have the next Xbox already.

 

[javiergame4]

Going with xbox next gen due to gamepass. if sony has a similar service, I'd get it then.

 

[iswasdoes]

The lines will blur about what winning really means

Say PlayStation sell more boxes, but ms gets more gamepass subscriptions - who's winning?

If PlayStation dont fuck up back compat they will nail the physical console race because of library continuity for their massive install base

But MS can change the game with a unified gamepass across pc, Xbox and xcloud, then they take a totally different, and potentially more important prize

 

[Late Flag]

I don't care who wins -- it's not as if I own stock in either company or anything. Personally, I strongly prefer the exclusives that Sony has pumped out over the past couple of generations, so I'll definitely go the PS5 route in this hypothetical and would do so even if Sony's price point were higher or its specs were a little worse. I'll look at the next XBox after a year or two when I've had a chance to get a sense of its exclusive library.

 

[J_ToSaveTheDay]

I think we're gonna see Xbox gain a lot of ground if its first to market at the same price -- I'm not sure the seemingly vast amount of people that bought in on PS4 for cheaper at the start of this generation really clued into the exclusives advantages, they just wanted whatever was the better value -- and I think that's how Xbox One has been able to stay relevant and not completely sink -- their lower end consoles have very consistently been on sale for great prices with decently appealing bundles to mass audiences, even if the enthusiast sector doesn't particularly seem to take to the quality of its exclusive titles or its technical capabilities. A lot of the late-to-generation onboarders from the recent 2 years (without statistical proof to back this up) seem to be people who got by just having a copy of GTAV and an Xbox 360 as they waited for prices to come down.

Price matters more to the larger consumer base (the majority of people who buy consoles beyond just the enthusiast sector), but that being equal, I think whatever gets to market first might have slight advantage, but I do think that's an advantage that can be overtaken very easily with superior marketing effectiveness.

I get the feeling that Game Pass's value is starting to take hold past the enthusiast inner ring, too... Might be a massive factor in Xbox's favor, especially if Xbox can successfully manage to communicate that backwards compatible makes that library instantly available on their new platform.

 

[Acquiesc3]

We saw what happened when Sony launched a year later with ps3 and at a higher price point - they caught up and possibly even surpassed 360 sales worldwide.

We also saw what happens when Sony and MS launch at the same time - albeit X1 having a higher price point and a botched (pre) launch.

The answer is kinda obvious OP.

 

[Alpha_ulquiorra]

You're probably right looking at it more closely if you include VR games.

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Even PS4/PC games. They had a good headstart on that this gen.

 

[Harris Katz]

Let's be honest, even Sony does not see the current incarnation of PS Now to be a competitor of Game Pass. Sony is not giving away every exclusive they make on launch day for $10 a month like Microsoft has promised to do.

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Sony has a lot of work to do when talking about launch day availability. But, I just got 2 years of PS Now for $140 during the recent sale. That's less than $6 a month and the library is growing like crazy, with a bunch of downloadable titles. And I love having access to PS3 and PS2 games. Streaming has been working like a charm for me. Playing Ni No Kuni and Fallout: New Vegas currently without a hiccup! Sony has announced big improvements (cryptic as the promise is) to PS Now by then end of 2019.

 

[Miles Davis]

Xbox has very little chance if any. Sony's PSN service is a rabid success and has people hooked. Throw in the usual heavy hitters and marketing and they already won. But Microsoft can put some heat on if their new devs show up no doubt about it.

 

[smurfx]

i usually just wait and go with whatever console is the most popular but i will be getting a ps5 for the exclusives. i have to play the horizon sequel no matter what.

 

[JediTimeBoy]

For me personally, the Xbox offers a better deal overall, from BC to play anywhere titles and me loving the elite controller.

On the other hand, if PS5 launches with killer exclusives, or at least killer exclusives during its first year, the choice might become harder....

I bought the x360 at launch and ps3 a few years later, and never regretted it. I bought the PS4 at launch, and then the X1, and didn't regret it, until I found out about project Scorpio.
If I had to do it again, I'd still go for the PS4 over the X1, but possibly hold off on half the multiplats until the X1X came out. I wouldn't have bought the X1 though.

I'll most likely buy the PS5 first, unless anything changes drastically, for exclusives, and NextBox later on for everything else.

 

[PopcornMegaphone]

I think Sony will sell more consoles, but MS will make huge gains in revenue.

 

[the_kaotek1]

Until Microsoft remember there's a ton of other countries in the world other than UK/NA Sony will always be at a massive advantage

 

[TheRulingRing]

The Playstation name simply carries far more weight than the Xbox name.

 

[Minilla]

BIgger brand name wins every time

 

[KORNdog]

"bold" ecosystem or not. MS aren't going to be able to convince people to give up on their amassed playstation collection. They don't have the luxury of a clean break generation. Both systems will support the previous generations games...and more people own more PS4 games. It's only natural for them to stay where their expensive library is.

 

[WrenchNinja]

Unless Microsoft starts caring about places outside of North America and the UK, theyre always going to be behind.

 

[Salty Rice]

You have the games you have my money.

Sony has the advantage going into next gen.

 

[Xeontech]

Playstation will have an immediate advantage with it's current ecosystem and confirmed backwards compatibility. No helping that.

But next most important factor will absolutely be the exclusive lineup announced at or before launch.

Then price and power come into play.

If either has the exclusive, price AND power advantage it could be the tide turner. But that is very unlikely to happen again after the 2013 fiasco.

 

[Ploid 6.0]

The PC is an Xbox to MS now so in a way we basically all have the next Xbox already.

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The Windows pc. Linux is growing and Steam is putting in work with being able to ditch Windows. I hope Google Stadia using Linux will get devs to port their code over to standalone linux versions + vulkan. Oh boy!

 

[DigSCCP]

PlayStation is gonna win in every metric possible.
Will sell more consoles, will sell more software, will have bigger MAU and will get more revenue from services , even tho MS is better at this aspect.
But MS will probably be in a better position when compared to this gen.

 

[rokkerkory]

Will be combo of power, price, exclusives and services.

but who cares when you buy both

 

[DevilMayGuy]

Will be combo of power, price, exclusives and services.

but who cares when you buy both

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Or, like me, buy a PS5 while using GamePass on PC. Both sides win in such a scenario

 

[statham]

Not going to vote, when this site is 5x1 in favor of sony, and pretty much everyone I ignore as a xbox fan is in this thread. yea, how bout no. enjoy your thread,

edit: We can pretend hoodoo, cakely and others arent a issue with GAF, but here on Era we have the same peeps. If you want Era not to be a Sony site, well do something.

 

[Amauri14]

PlayStation will surely keep the lead worldwide regardless of what Xbox will do, also on a personal level as I own a PlayStation console and a PC I actually don't see myself buying an Xbox as I can buy those games on PC now, but I sure as hell will be getting the next PlayStation.

 

[Guaraná]

Sony will crush Xbox worldwide.
Sony has better games and their ecosystem is good enough.

Plus, I don't need a Xbox since I own a PC and from what I can remember, Microsft is OK with that.

Don't know that kind of strategy that is, but who am I to disagree.

 

[Sherbert]

Is there any question? PS5 all day. Bolder ecosystem my ass. Back compat is great but Xbox lacks a ton of games and the ui is dog shit

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Also, maybe Xbox will have 'yield issues'. Hopefully you will let us know like last time.

 

[ThereAreFourNaan]

So far Sony has not shown signs of making any major mistakes, but Microsoft is pushing very aggressively to disrupt traditional game sale/ownership models and is right there alongside google trying to disrupt traditional assumptions about what hardware you need to engage in a console vendor's ecosystem.

Console lock-in (with a physical box) is still very desirable, but over a span of 2-4 years the market may look very, very different than it does today. People on PC using Gamepass are Microsoft customers just as much as someone who owns an Xbox is. People who have an XCloud subscription and primarily games using their iPhone is a Microsoft customer.

The real unknown is how effective this will be, and how Sony will respond to the Microsoft / Google disruption.

 

[SweetBellic]

From everything we've heard, next gen Xbox and Playstation consoles are going to be pretty iterative so it's hard to imagine them being terribly disruptive to current gen trends. Unless Microsoft manages to release a more powerful next gen console months earlier than PS5 at a lower price, Sony will likely continue to dominate hardware sales into next gen. Nintendo will continue to dominate the dedicated handheld market, and Valve will continue to dominate on PC. The real wild cards are Google Stadia and similar streaming services. Would be curious to see how they impact market share for traditional consoles.

 

[statham]

Sony will crush Xbox worldwide.
Sony has better games and their ecosystem is good enough.

Plus, I don't need a Xbox since I own a PC and from what I can remember, Microsft is OK with that.

Don't know that kind of strategy that is, but who am I to disagree.

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so you are buying Xbox games??

Xbox getting paid from shit talkers, Bravo Xbox. getting paid from trolls..

 

[shotgunbob04]

More PlayStations will be sold because they'll most likely be the only way you can play all those Sony PS5 exclusives.

All of the big Xbox exclusives we know of are coming to PC and probably Game Pass streaming (Xcloud, right?) as well, which could cause a decent amount of people to skip on a Scarlett console.

If the PS5 can play all my PS4 digital purchases and has a few good exclusives at launch, then I'll probably just sell my PS4 Pro and pick one up day-one. Otherwise, I'll wait a year or two.

As for Xbox games, my PC will run everything well.

 

[Illusion]

I feel if Xbox keeps a focus on Gamepass and enhancing their exclusive ecosystem and making their platform a better console for gamers, I can see them outselling the PS5 much like the PS3 did to the Xbox 360.

PlayStation is keeping a lot underwraps, but if they do exactly what they did this generation I dont see them failing whatever.

Honestly, the console wars might be low key this time around.

 

[watdaeff4]

Sony's brand is just too strong for the immediate future esp outside the US

I will defend MS/Xbox on this forum and enjoy their products but if I were only to buy just one console I would buy a PS5 without a second of hesitation

All of that said I do like what MS is doing now and I think their current model has led to them having a more enjoyable product now than the OG Xbox or for me the 360. I do look forward to see what they have in store for us in the future

 

[rokkerkory]

Or, like me, buy a PS5 while using GamePass on PC. Both sides win in such a scenario

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there you go? either way enjoy both ecosystems

 

[Outrun]

Sony will continue its dominance, but MS will have a better showing.

 

[El Bombastico]

MS is not winning. Not when they are irrelevant outside the US/UK.

 

[DvdGzz]

Sony wins in hardware sales, MS has a chance to make the most overall though. Halo on Xbox and PC, Gamepass on Xbox and PC, Xcloud, and several devs feeding the Gamepass beast. It will be fun to watch.

The fact that exclusives are at 16% and Sony is at 70% tells me all I need to know about this site. Statham is right.

 

[Penny Royal]

TBH until MS start providing some real stats on GP I'm not about to proclaim it saviour of the brand. Not only that, but when MS have to raise the price to something sustainable does the amazing value proposition still hold?

US/UK may be tighter next gen, but unless Sony really screw it up they'll still be the market leader globally.

 

[Madao]

most of the series i buy on Playstation are exclusives so i'll end up with a PS5 regardless of who ends up with the more popular machine.

for me it'd be better if the Xbox is ahead since the company that is lagging behind trends to start doing better offerings.

 

[Apathy]

Not going to vote, when this site is 5x1 in favor of sony, and pretty much everyone I ignore as a xbox fan is in this thread. yea, how bout no. enjoy your thread,

edit: We can pretend hoodoo, cakely and others arent a issue with GAF, but here on Era we have the same peeps. If you want Era not to be a Sony site, well do something.

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Are you still complaining about this with a victim complex? The site may have more PlayStation people (just like in real life), but we're gaming people that care about the games industry being healthy.

 

[Bede-x]

MS is not winning. Not when they are irrelevant outside the US/UK.

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You think Steam is irrelevant outside the US/UK? Because Microsoft is gonna be selling their games on Steam and offering Game Pass to PC users on their own store. And they're gonna go after the mobile market as well through streaming.

We don't know how it'll play out, but if everybody starts chasing the Netflix in gaming model, the number of consoles sold might not be the most important metric any longer. That's what Microsoft is counting on. And while they'll likely lose in the number of boxes sold, it's too early to conclude who'll be more relevant in the PC and mobile space (if that ends up becoming important).

 

[HiredN00bs]

Will it even matter in a cross-play world?

There hasn't been a generation yet where I didn't get every one of the major platforms, eventually.

 

[Zelenogorsk]

I have to stay a Sony guy because of Japanese games but lately Microsoft seems pretty hungry and they look to be making all the right moves. Feels like they took the lessons from the XBONE launch to heart and i'm curios to see if they can fit a fourth or fifth franchise into the Gears/Halo/Forza cycle. I feel like the next gen battle is gonna be crazy!

 

[BrickArts295]

I don't think MS cares about winning anymore. They know most of the world (Aside from US and making the UK) is Sony land with side dish of Nintendo. They most likely want to sell enough consoles to keep Xbox profitable and continue on their pursue of making GamePass/XCloud their new printing money machine.

I think the lack of BC on the PS4 might be a blessing in disguise for Sony. Because most of the people with PS4s (which I assume is a lot) will most likely want to jump in on PS5 if they can play their PS4 games (especially those with digital libraries). Without BC goodwill and the lead in tech, the only advantage MS has over Sony will be GamePass and their own exclusives. So at the end of the day, next year will be about who has the better exclusives to offer? And I believe Sony will have a big advantage because most of their popular PS4 games are guarantee to get sequels (Spidey, GOW, Horizon, Days Gone etc) and they got ND on top of all that.

MS has a LOT of great talent though. Unfortunately for them (and fortunately for me) if their exclusives continue to end up on Gamepass (especially on PC). Then I fail to see why would I need to buy a next gen Xbox? I get that no everyone has a super gaming computer to build but then there's possibility of using XCloud as well. The future of gaming is going to be very interesting.

 

[MadMike]

PlayStation currently has a massive advantage when it comes to market share and exclusives. Unless they pull an XB1-level fuck up, I don't see any reason they won't maintain that momentum. Xbox still has to prove their first-party acquisitions were worth it.

 

[Viceratops]

Sony isn't pushing nearly as hard as MS to get rid of digital and physical ownership of games. Therefore I pick Sony to win. People still care about that ownership.

 

[El-Pistolero]

The console war as we've known it for so long is dead.

If you're someone that really cares about this, then you need to just know that in terms of flat out number of consoles sold, the PlayStation 5 will 'win' that particular battle. That isn't what matters so much any more, however. Microsoft will be very content in shifting less consoles as long as they sell more subscriptions. It's the way the market is going and I think Microsoft will eventually be the market leader once they have more good exclusives.

Probably an unpopular opinion, but despite them being no.1 in gaming in most people's eyes at the moment (including mine), I think Sony would be the first to go out of business between themselves, Microsoft, and Nintendo if it ever came to it. It sounds odd, but I think it'd be the most likely thing to happen even though I think any of them going out of business in a gaming sense is out of the question for an incredibly long time.

I think Nintendo and Sony still do well because so many people are still accustomed to owning a cartridge or disc, or at least a digital copy of a game. I'm 30-years-old now and this will always be my preferred way to purchase media in terms of video games, but I have very much adapted to streaming any other form of media. Maybe I will just accept it one day for games too? I am convinced that the next generation of gamers will be ones who care much less about collecting physical games and that will be the niche market, much like vinyl for example. At the moment, I'd say most gamers in their late teens, and all of us in our 20's, 30's, 40's that still game are mostly set in our ways and want it to stay that way. But, it won't be the case for that much longer when we're outnumbered by more and more who just want to get the game quick, download, stream it etc. This is when I believe Sony and NIntendo will unfortunately struggle more as I can't see them always being able to one-up Microsoft and soon to be Google purely because of their exclusives, as the latter will have far better services and I'd almost guarantee they could afford to charge less.

Sad times ahead.

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I have the same sentiment...

 

[Dodgerfan74]

With the ecosystems and digital libraries carrying over to the next generation, the number of people who can be tempted to jump ship to the competition will be lower than ever. Playstation will keep leading handily for that reason alone.

This gen really was the worst possible one to lose marketshare.

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Very real. I'm not going to ditch playing my 700 games, or whatever it is, library on PS4 next gen, especially given how many service games will likely just keep on going uninterrupted.

Even if that wasn't a thing, I'd still go PS5 probably. Playstation has been the best console, to me, the last 4 gens so I'm confident in that being the case again by the end of next gen.

Xbox 1st party is too underwhelming to make a difference, but GamePass is a genuinely great service. Void Bastards on it is what got me to dust off my Xbox recently.

 

[El-Pistolero]

Let's be honest, if everyone bought a PS5 just for exclusives and then bought all multiplat games on the PC Sony would suffer big time. So is this just another case of why buy an Xbox when all their games are on PC but I don't play on PC or are you actually playing everything on PC other than exclusives?

I do agree, Sony has the momentum going into next gen but I do think consumers have changed. Many are like me now who are actually in favor of things like Game Pass over buying traditional consoles like the old days. This is why I'm optomistic Sony will improve PS Now which can be played on the PC or have something similar to Game Pass.

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If by Gamepass you mean releasing their first part main games simultaneously on the interface, I can assure you that it will not happen this upcoming generation, at all. They sell way too many titles not to take advantage of it, and their first party studios are on par with Nintendo in terms of recognition and praise, though covering entirely different genres and having a distinct philosophy. I can see them waiting a year or so before adding a tentpole title to the service. That is about it, really...