With the PS5 reveal event finally taking place this week, things are starting to heat up for the next generation of consoles. We may still be missing some important details, such as the price and a release date for both PS5 and Xbox Series X, but that hasn't stopped speculation as to which will come out on top. Rupantar Guha, S💙enior Analyst of Thematic Research at GlobalData, predicts that exclusives will🃏 be a key area that could give the PS5 an advantage over the Xbox Series X.
Rupantar starts off his analysis by proposing that both next-gen consoles will "pivot around added-value services," including "platform-exclusive titles, subscriptions and cloud gaming". This is due to a "limited differentiation in hardware", as the PS5 and Xbox Series X have similar specs and a focus on SSDs for fasterꦏ load times.
Of these added-value services, Sony has a clear advantage with the PS5 in regards to console exclusives. Rupantar reasons that "Sony’s main strength is its extensive games portfolio, which features a mix of first- and third-party titles". The PS5 reveal event certainly made sure to drive this point home, opening with a trio of big exclusives: Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Gran Turismo 7, and Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart.
Moving onto the PS5's backwards compatibility and streaming service, Rupantar was slightly less positive. He states that, while PS Now will "help Sony overcome technical and cost-related challenges related to the compatib🅺ility of old PS games", the company must "address the latency issues" of the servic🦹e for it to be successful. Microsoft have their own streaming service in the form of xCloud, meaning that PS Now needs to improve upon the issues it has faced on the PS3 and PS4 to stand a chance against its rival.
A final factor that could decide the outcome of the next genera𒅌tion is subscriptions. Both current generation consoles already offer monthly services for online play and free games. On top of this, Microsoft have the highly successful Xbox Games Pass, that offers more than 100 games to subscribers. Despite this, Rupantar states that "Sony also has an advantage here. Its PlayStation Plus service has 42 million users and could be integrated with the PS5, especially its digital variant."
Source: GlobalData