Nintendo’s New Console Should Force PlayStation, Xbox to Partner Up More
When looking at the current generational console cycle, seemingly not much has changed.
PlayStation still leads in sales, and Xbox struggles to match those sales, but Nintendo remains a huge draw for fans of either console or gamers who skirt high-end hardware completely.
As it did last generation with PS4 Pro, PlayStation is still updating its signature console with a more high-end system with the same branding midway through its cycle, having shipped PS5 Pro in November. However, the justification for continually upping the graphics ante is certainly hitting a wall.
More than four years ago, before PlayStation and Xbox released their newest consoles, Warner Bros. conducted a double-blind study showing most consumers can’t tell the difference between graphical displays on 4K vs. 8K TVs, a reality that conflicts with the PS5 Pro’s touting of AI systems that make its native 4K graphics clearer and crisper. Combined with the $700 asking price, the newer model is likely to be a tough sell, pending Sony’s earnings results for this quarter.
Then there is Xbox, which made a strong pivot from selling the Xbox Series X as the most powerful available console to its current “This Is an Xbox” campaign, which encourages consumers to seek out Xbox games on any compatible device via Xbox Game Pass and PC Pass, its subscription offering.
Xbox’s transition to emphasizing its software over hardware followed two big publishing acquisitions in ZeniMax and Activision Blizzard, with a strong portfolio of upcoming games now due over the next few years, kicking off with “Indiana Jones and the Great Circle” today. “The Great Circle,” “Doom: The Dark Ages” and presumably more new games are also set for PlayStation releases.
It’s easy to view this as Xbox ceding the so-called console wars to PlayStation, whose command of exclusive AAA games played the biggest role in its strong hardware sales lead from the PS4 onward.
Still, attempts to match every aspect of Xbox’s business have led to missteps.
PlayStation folded cloud gaming service PS Now into PS Plus in 2022, attempting to offer a more robust subscription offering to better rival Xbox Game Pass’ strong offering flush with day-one releases for its own first-party games.
However, PlayStation wasn’t willing to risk first-party sales in that regard, and the result was a failure to boost subscriptions before Sony stopped disclosing subscriber numbers altogether in its supplemental earnings.
For the inevitable dent in third-party sales a subscription service creates, PlayStation has been smart enough to open up more first-party games to the PC market, as Xbox has done for years. But the console leader’s 2024 was also marked by largely failed attempts to grow its live service offerings, canceling “Concord” less than two weeks after its August release and scaling back Bungie’s work on “Destiny” after acquiring the studio in 2022.
On the other end, Xbox and parent Microsoft preside over “Minecraft” and “Call of Duty,” as well as forever popular mobile games like “Candy Crush.”
Details are still scant, but Nintendo’s upcoming successor to its Switch console is another foil for both businesses in 2025.
Despite the lack of many AAA games in the PlayStation and Xbox camp that can be played on Nintendo’s less intense hardware, the longtime console maker struck gold with the Switch, offering the best of both worlds with a hybrid home and handheld console packing exclusive franchises — like “The Legend of Zelda” and “Super Mario” — that have never crossed over to its console rivals and likely never will.
The low upfront cost for consumers proved a boon for continued Switch sales as the pandemic led up to the new PS5 and Xbox Series systems in 2020. Given how Nintendo previously released updated Switches with OLED screens, the next console is bound to have more graphical upgrades now that Valve’s Steam Deck is another market mainstay that can port AAA PC games to a handheld format.
Still, its impending release clearly has PlayStation and Xbox nervous. Xbox in November confirmed it is working on its own handheld offering, despite the existing device proliferation for Game Pass, and reports emerged the same month that PlayStation is doing the same, despite discontinuing PS Vita in 2019 and rushing its PS Portal accessory to market in 2023.
If both console makers are falling over themselves to match Nintendo’s versatility, something’s got to give with their approach to games. Former Sony Interactive Entertainment president, CEO and studios chairman Shawn Layden openly called out the futility of gatekeeping games last week.
“There comes a time when we all declare the war is over,” said Layden, who stressed that reports of gaming revenue during the pandemic weren’t “necessarily” from new hardware consumers but rather “more money from the same people,” highlighting that as an “existential threat” to consoles.
SEE ALSO: Why Xbox’s ‘Indiana Jones’ Is Just What the Video Games Industry Needs to Salvage 2024
Xbox is certainly on the right track for bringing more of its own games to its rival, but that remains a one-way street.
If subscriptions have faded into the background of what Sony is willing to publicly disclose about PlayStation’s performance, there is no reason not to come to an agreement with Xbox that brings Game Pass to PlayStation and allows for a two-way exchange where Sony can curate and limit its own tier for PlayStation games on Xbox.
Conceivably, Sony could discontinue PS Plus altogether, substituting it for Game Pass, and let Xbox foot the bill for licensing shared third-party games from that point forward.
PlayStation still leads in sales, and Xbox struggles to match those sales, but Nintendo remains a huge draw for fans of either console or gamers who skirt high-end hardware completely.
As it did last generation with PS4 Pro, PlayStation is still updating its signature console with a more high-end system with the same branding midway through its cycle, having shipped PS5 Pro in November. However, the justification for continually upping the graphics ante is certainly hitting a wall.
More than four years ago, before PlayStation and Xbox released their newest consoles, Warner Bros. conducted a double-blind study showing most consumers can’t tell the difference between graphical displays on 4K vs. 8K TVs, a reality that conflicts with the PS5 Pro’s touting of AI systems that make its native 4K graphics clearer and crisper. Combined with the $700 asking price, the newer model is likely to be a tough sell, pending Sony’s earnings results for this quarter.
Then there is Xbox, which made a strong pivot from selling the Xbox Series X as the most powerful available console to its current “This Is an Xbox” campaign, which encourages consumers to seek out Xbox games on any compatible device via Xbox Game Pass and PC Pass, its subscription offering.
Xbox’s transition to emphasizing its software over hardware followed two big publishing acquisitions in ZeniMax and Activision Blizzard, with a strong portfolio of upcoming games now due over the next few years, kicking off with “Indiana Jones and the Great Circle” today. “The Great Circle,” “Doom: The Dark Ages” and presumably more new games are also set for PlayStation releases.
It’s easy to view this as Xbox ceding the so-called console wars to PlayStation, whose command of exclusive AAA games played the biggest role in its strong hardware sales lead from the PS4 onward.
Still, attempts to match every aspect of Xbox’s business have led to missteps.
PlayStation folded cloud gaming service PS Now into PS Plus in 2022, attempting to offer a more robust subscription offering to better rival Xbox Game Pass’ strong offering flush with day-one releases for its own first-party games.
However, PlayStation wasn’t willing to risk first-party sales in that regard, and the result was a failure to boost subscriptions before Sony stopped disclosing subscriber numbers altogether in its supplemental earnings.
For the inevitable dent in third-party sales a subscription service creates, PlayStation has been smart enough to open up more first-party games to the PC market, as Xbox has done for years. But the console leader’s 2024 was also marked by largely failed attempts to grow its live service offerings, canceling “Concord” less than two weeks after its August release and scaling back Bungie’s work on “Destiny” after acquiring the studio in 2022.
On the other end, Xbox and parent Microsoft preside over “Minecraft” and “Call of Duty,” as well as forever popular mobile games like “Candy Crush.”
Details are still scant, but Nintendo’s upcoming successor to its Switch console is another foil for both businesses in 2025.
Despite the lack of many AAA games in the PlayStation and Xbox camp that can be played on Nintendo’s less intense hardware, the longtime console maker struck gold with the Switch, offering the best of both worlds with a hybrid home and handheld console packing exclusive franchises — like “The Legend of Zelda” and “Super Mario” — that have never crossed over to its console rivals and likely never will.
The low upfront cost for consumers proved a boon for continued Switch sales as the pandemic led up to the new PS5 and Xbox Series systems in 2020. Given how Nintendo previously released updated Switches with OLED screens, the next console is bound to have more graphical upgrades now that Valve’s Steam Deck is another market mainstay that can port AAA PC games to a handheld format.
Still, its impending release clearly has PlayStation and Xbox nervous. Xbox in November confirmed it is working on its own handheld offering, despite the existing device proliferation for Game Pass, and reports emerged the same month that PlayStation is doing the same, despite discontinuing PS Vita in 2019 and rushing its PS Portal accessory to market in 2023.
If both console makers are falling over themselves to match Nintendo’s versatility, something’s got to give with their approach to games. Former Sony Interactive Entertainment president, CEO and studios chairman Shawn Layden openly called out the futility of gatekeeping games last week.
“There comes a time when we all declare the war is over,” said Layden, who stressed that reports of gaming revenue during the pandemic weren’t “necessarily” from new hardware consumers but rather “more money from the same people,” highlighting that as an “existential threat” to consoles.
SEE ALSO: Why Xbox’s ‘Indiana Jones’ Is Just What the Video Games Industry Needs to Salvage 2024
Xbox is certainly on the right track for bringing more of its own games to its rival, but that remains a one-way street.
If subscriptions have faded into the background of what Sony is willing to publicly disclose about PlayStation’s performance, there is no reason not to come to an agreement with Xbox that brings Game Pass to PlayStation and allows for a two-way exchange where Sony can curate and limit its own tier for PlayStation games on Xbox.
Conceivably, Sony could discontinue PS Plus altogether, substituting it for Game Pass, and let Xbox foot the bill for licensing shared third-party games from that point forward.