![]() Sony insists it will continue with exclusivity, having relied on it to sell many more PlayStations in the past. Ralf Liebholdīy contrast, Microsoft publishes all its new titles on PC and Xbox consoles simultaneously, focusing on user-base growth and not just console sales. Sony’s PC version of God of War has been a success. ![]() Yet, thanks to Sony’s “exclusivity” strategy of prioritising the release of its games on its own console first, God of War was on PlayStation 4s four years earlier. ![]() The company’s latest open-PC release, God of War, has sold quite well and received rave reviews from gamers and critics. There are, it should be said, some green shoots for Sony on other platforms. Whether by buying Stadia or making a step-change investment in PlayStation Now, Sony should aim to make its titles run on most, if not all, smart TVs, phones, set-top boxes and computers. This shows a clear lack of will by Sony to reduce dependence on its console business, which in turn is critically dependent on semiconductor manufacturing. The solution is to let gamers stream titles to devices other than dedicated consoles, but PlayStation Now is far from ubiquitous. Yet this advantage is not sustainable, given the semiconductor drought will likely continue for a number of months, and the increasing appetite for gaming. These are much older than Microsoft’s equivalent Xbox Series S, meaning they use simpler chips and are easier to manufacture. Sony, however, has a slight edge from having decided to increase production of its legacy PlayStation 4 consoles. The world semiconductor shortage has hit console sales by slowing down production. Google Stadia is great tech but struggling. Combining Stadia’s tech with PlayStation Now’s vast catalogue and simple price point could put Sony back on the offensive. Stadia’s performance and reach is among the best, and its failure can be distilled down to a lack of content and a business model that charges users separately for games and platform access. The fastest way of catching up might just be to buy Google’s struggling Stadia streaming service. By allowing Microsoft to get entrenched with budget gamers, Sony has exposed itself to an emergent business model that it might not be able to compete with. When a market-leading business is replaced, the upstart almost always starts by selling to neglected budget users – witness how digital cameras defeated Kodak, for example, or how Netflix took on DVDs and BluRay by aiming squarely at the lower end of the market. Despite a much bigger catalogue of games and a competitive monthly price of US$9.99, its streaming performance and availability is among the worst of its peers: Sony is still using tech that is nearly nine years old, from its purchase of a startup called Gaiki. Sony’s similar service, PlayStation Now, has just 3.2 million subscribers. ![]() While Game Pass’ profits are still questionable at this early stage, subscriber numbers are rising exponentially. Game Pass has 25 million subscribers and is a boon for price-sensitive PC and console gamers, frequently offering blockbuster titles on launch day.Įvery time Microsoft buys a videogame maker, it has put their entire games catalogue on Game Pass, giving gamers a fear-of-missing-out (or FOMO) similar to what makes many people continue with their Netflix subscriptions. Sony’s biggest threat from Microsoft is actually Xbox Game Pass, a Netflix-like subscription that allows users to download or stream hundreds of titles at just US$15 per month. This gives Sony breathing room to respond boldly to this existential danger. That could clearly cause problems down the line. The latest takeover will also take at least a year to complete, and Microsoft will inherit the ongoing investigation and lawsuits against Activision by US authorities over alleged abuse and harassment of female employees, among other HR issues. And note that nearly eight years after Microsoft bought Minecraft developer Mojang, that game is still on PlayStations. Activision’s hefty cash price partly reflects all the present and future profits it earns from PlayStation – the new PlayStation 5s are expected to outsell Microsoft’s Xbox Series consoles by about two to one in 2022. Pulling the Activision content from Sony consoles would be a huge decision for Microsoft, of course.
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