Building on a Legacy: The Key to Sony's Success with the PS5
The company has implemented a successful strategy that has enabled them to outsell the PS4 during the first 29 months since launch, despite the 'chip shortage', and logistics nightmare.
Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) is Sony's video game, and digital entertainment division. They are in charge of making the PlayStation, and all of its first party games. The company has been quite successful with its 2 most recent consoles: the PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 5.
What has been the key factor in the success of both systems? It is a combination of a coherent hardware design, and a great software lineup. Easier said than done, right? Let's dive into it a little.
Microsoft's mistakes.
We tend to forget, or at least suppress bad memories. I think we undermine how bad it was for the gaming industry that someone like Don Mattrick tried to make the Xbox One a 'do it all' console.
I remember the dismal E3 where they focused on non-gaming entertainment. The console could stream ESPN, you could order a pizza while watching a game, book movie tickets while playing, and do other types of activities unrelated to gaming, like flailing your arms like an idiot while trying to pet a virtual tiger.
The Xbox One shifted heavily from what its successful predecessor was, the Xbox 360. Microsoft focused on first- and third-party software to boost the hardware's sale; everyone played Call of Duty and Halo on the console. They even launched hardware revisions that addressed the 'red ring of death'.
Perhaps Microsoft got complacent with the 360's success, and ventured to try something new and completely radical with the Xbox One. The implications of pursuing that vision are what ended up costing the Xbox One its terrible fate.
Always online
Being able to order pizza while playing requires you to be connected online all the time. Another thing that you need is the Kinect, a camera/microphone peripheral that allows you to input the audio and video to the console. I know that saying: "Hey Xbox, order me a pizza" sounds cool, but it's a gimmick to say the least.
All of these things take up precious hardware resources in order to function all the time. This forces games to share hardware resources with all these gimmicks that don't really add significant value to the experience.
Another issue with the persistent online connectivity is that you cannot play your games without the internet. Even if you bought a physical copy of the game, you still needed to be hooked up to your broadband ISP.
Games also had a digital DRM that forbade you to lend your physical copies of the game to your friends. This is something that Sony capitalized on to bash Xbox users in the face. Lending games to your friends was as easy as handing them your copy.
Video games take a secondary spot
Consoles have a limited pool of hardware resources available. With Mattrick's vision for the Xbox One, video games took a secondary spot. This affects hardware architecture design in the planning and design cycle of the console.
The Xbox One's hardware was lackluster, compared to the PlayStation 4. For example, the original Xbox One had 8GB of RAM shared between games and other non-gaming related tasks; in the end games got 5GB and other background operations were provided with 3GB.
The PlayStation 4 had 8GB solely dedicated for video games. The revised PS4 Pro version had an additional gigabyte of RAM dedicated to background tasks, making it 9GB in total.
Sharing resources resulted in lower resolution and frame rate compared to the competition (PS4). For example, games like Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag ran at 1080p @ 30fps on the PS4, while on the Xbox One it could only achieve a 900p resolution.
Call of Duty: Ghosts ran at 720p @ 60fps on the Xbox One, while the PS4 achieved a true HD resolution with 1080p @ 60fps. Other games like Destiny, required you to remove the Kinect in order to achieve a standard HD resolution at a high frame rate (1080p @ 60fps). A patch was needed to disable Kinect from the console.
Lackluster game lineup
Another mistake by Microsoft was its high dependency on third-party titles like Call of Duty, FIFA, Madden, or Assassin's Creed. They did not focus on creating new IPs and relied on already successful franchises like Halo or Forza.
To be frank, Halo 5: Guardians was the only title worth playing on the Xbox One. The other Halo games are the Master Chief Collection, which is a compendium of previous titles, and Halo: Spartan Assault which is a 'real time strategy' spinoff.
The Forza Motorsport games are a hit or miss, and compared to what Sony offered with Gran Turismo, they were no reason to buy an Xbox. We also had other racing titles like Need for Speed and Project CARS, which ran better on the PS4.
Introducing: Phil Spencer
A year after the release of the Xbox One, Microsoft stopped publishing hardware sales. They had sold around 10 million units, compared to the 80 million PS4 on the market. This event turned things around for Microsoft.
Don Mattrick left his position as head of Xbox Gaming division, and Phil Spencer took over. During an E3 presentation, Spencer 're-launched' the Xbox One by revealing a superior hardware revision and removing unnecessary features like the Kinect, persistent online connectivity, and DRM.
Games now run at a better framerate and resolution, and in some cases, even better than the PS4 Pro. Microsoft opted for a strategy that prioritized gamers. We all want the most powerful hardware to play Call of Duty and FIFA.
The Xbox One X really helped Microsoft pick up hardware sale numbers and marked the company's way onto their next iteration of consoles, the Xbox Series X.
Sony's road to success
The road to success is paved by mistakes. Sony had to deal with one of its biggest setbacks when they released the PS3. The PS2 hugely outsold the PS1 sales by more than 50 million units, so naturally, they were ready for the next big thing. Except, initially it did not go as planned.
No stranger to mistakes
Sony Interactive Entertainment is no stranger to mistakes, the PS3 had a somewhat similar fate to what the Xbox One had. Sony had a tremendous success with the PS2, selling 155 million units.
The PS2 had amazing first and third-party titles, and its hardware was decent. Another great selling point was its price at $299. Sony wanted to launch a much more powerful console in order to make games a more cinematic experience. The problem with this was that the PS3's price was going to be significantly higher: $499.99 for the 20GB model, and $599.99 for the 60GB one.
The PS3 had an amazing lineup of games, and ended up being one of the best consoles of all time, however, during its initial life cycle, it did not sell as expected. It took Sony to launch a revised PS3 at a better price, to see the console's sales pick up. We saw the birth of new franchises like The Last of Us and Uncharted.
The architecture of the console is amazing to say the least. You can play PS1 and PS2 games without any emulation. You only need to insert your CD into the console. The PS3 is literally 3 consoles in 1. Today, the hardware is sought after by collectors because of this.
Software is everything
The PS4 was successful because Sony re-strategized what they wanted to do with the console; they priced it at $399, which meant they did not sacrifice hardware specifications and power.
Sony was able to fulfill its vision of making video games a more cinematic experience. They ventured to create new IPs like The Last of Us and Uncharted, which took advantage of the audio-visual power the console had. The standard was 1080p @ 30 or 60 fps. The PS4 Pro claimed to be the first 4k console, although they ran a checkered box 1440p resolution.
The PlayStation 4 has sold around 117 million units across the globe. Franchises like The Last of Us and Uncharted got remastered versions for the PS4, and they also got sequels as well. New IPs like Bloodborne and Horizon Zero Dawn became staples of the industry, and solidified Sony Interactive Entertainment as one of the industry leading video game producers.
SIE also launched games that have an incredible cinematic experience like Days Gone, Death Stranding and Ghost of Tsushima. God of War got a complete remake, making it a 3rd person action RPG in the same vein as the titles mentioned above.
Another great feature that the PS4 has is their online platform. The digital game library of the PS4 is one of the best experiences out there. Xbox did the same with the Xbox One X, and both carried the industry towards the digital era. Without it, we would not even be talking about cloud gaming.
The PS5 improves on the tremendous legacy of the PS4
The PS4 is, in my opinion, the most influential console of all time. Perhaps I lack the courage to call it the best console in videogame history, but its legacy certainly shaped the industry into what it is today.
Mark Cerny reprised his role as the console's architect. He focused on maximizing the hardware's performance by implementing revolutionary technology. This allowed the console to be priced at $499.99, offering a 4K resolution at 30 or 60 fps.
The PS5 and Xbox Series X are identically priced, and have similar hardware specifications. They both opted for solid state storage, and an AMD CPU and GPU solution.
What makes the PS5 stand out from the Xbox Series X is its game lineup. Sony had built a fantastic lineup during the life cycle of the PS4. As mentioned above, games like Bloodborne, Horizon: Zero Dawn, Days Gone, Death Stranding, Ghost of Tsushima, and God of War became instantly successful, and helped boost the console's sales as well.
Xbox on the other hand, stuck to Halo and Forza, and other first party titles like Ryse who were cast into oblivion. Microsoft's strategy for the Xbox Series X was to buy large publishers like Bethesda or Activision, in order to acquire the rights of their intellectual properties.
Carrying all those great titles to the PS5
Sony on the other hand carried those successful PS4 titles and made ports for the PS5, taking advantage of the console's hardware. We finally got to play all these amazing titles at a native 4K resolution @ 60fps. Not only that, Sony included all the extra content and DLCs those great titles had.
Another great decision by Sony was to include all of these games in the PS Plus Collection through PS Plus, a service required to play online. Anyone who did not get the chance to play all these amazing games, had the opportunity to experience them with better visuals and with all their content available from the get-go.
This is the best way to boost the console's sales early on in its life cycle. That is why the PS5 is outselling the Xbox Series X, and has kept it ever since. These games gave Sony time to develop sequels like God of War: Ragnarök, and Horizon: Forbidden West; all within the context of the impact COVID took to game development as well.
Sony did not abandon the PS4; the sequels were also released on previous-gen hardware, so gamers with a PS4 could experience these titles, considering there was a chip shortage crisis, and hardware production took a significant hit.
Replicating and evolving what the PS4 gave Sony has been the key for the PS5's success. If sales projections keep within its margins, it is likely that the PS5 will outsell the PS4, eventually.
At the moment, the PS5 is the most-sold console in history for the Q1 period, surpassing the PS1, and P2, and PS4. Sony estimated the console to sell around 5 million units, however, they achieved the incredible total of 6.3 million in Q1 2023. The total number of PS5 sold is 38.3 million.
Sony could be on their way to sell around 70 million units by the end of 2024.
