A reader worries that Sony’s PlayStation 5 is going to be too expensive for ordinary customers and easily undercut by the Xbox.
It wasn’t official news but this week we got a rumour, from a sensible business newspaper and not some guy on Twitter, that the PlayStation 5 is going to cost from between $499 to $549. Post-Brexit, it’s hard to say what that’s going to translate into in pounds, but it’s got to be at least £450 and could easily be £500. If that’s true, then I think Sony’s dominance of the video games market just ended.
I don’t know what Americans consider to be too expensive but I know they got very upset about the PlayStation 3 being $399 at launch and that’s basically why it didn’t dominate that gen, despite doing better than the Xbox 360 almost everywhere else in the world.
The story itself acknowledges that even $499 is very expensive, as apparently Sony’s plan is to release less consoles than usual this year and try and appeal only to more hardcore fans. (Which helps to explain the longstanding rumour that a remake of Demon’s Souls is a launch game, which never made any sense to me until now.)
I can see the logic of this plan but I think the whole concept of a console that expensive is playing into Microsoft’s hands and proves that Sony hasn’t really learned anything from the PlayStation 3 launch at all.
Apart from the fact that so many people will have lost their jobs, or had their pay cut, as a result of the coronavirus – which is obviously not something Sony could’ve foreseen – the fact that the console is so expensive should’ve been proof to them that it was not viable and should’ve either had features cut or been delayed a couple of years until components are cheaper.
Graphics on the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One still look great, there was no great need for a new generation, and no-one demanding one either.
Now Sony is faced with the problem that their console is going to be very expensive during the biggest depression since the 1930s and their main opponent is a company with essentially infinite cash reserves who has both a viable streaming service and a subscription service that is very cheap and has access to dozens of very good games.
The second Sony announce their price you can guarantee that Microsoft will undercut it (Sony themselves have openly admitted this problem) and I’m fairly certain that Sony will not offer a better streaming service than Project xCloud or better value for money than Game Pass. They could, if they wanted to, but their first party games are their crown jewels and they don’t want to give those away for nothing.
As I see it Sony’s only route to success is with groundbreaking new first party games and a cheaper console than Microsoft. Maybe they’ll come through with the games but this news report suggests they’re already beaten on price.
In a way it’s a situation reminiscent of the problem with triple-A games, that many have been discussing lately. Consoles are getting so expensive to make they’re undermining their own purpose. Very few people are going to want to spend $400 on a new console this Christmas and even fewer $500 or more.
Video games are in danger of pricing themselves out of their own market and I’m not sure what’s going to be left of it if things carry on like this.
By reader Technotron
The reader’s feature does not necessary represent the views of GameCentral or Metro.
You can submit your own 500 to 600-word reader feature at any time, which if used will be published in the next appropriate weekend slot. As always, email gamecentral@ukmetro.co.uk and follow us on Twitter.
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