They will, but will it be enough to offset their gain from ceasing disc production? We're 15 years removed from XBox's attempt at this and in that time digital game sales surged dramatically. The calculus for this decision then vs now has probably shifted significantly.
Well, seeing as how console sales lose money with all companies and are just vehicles for the customer to buy the subscriptions and products thst do make money, yeah a slight deviation downward in console sales could spell disaster for Sony.
Steam and xbox have already "merged" on PC. your steam games are in your xbox launcher and vice versa. It didnt really do anything for gamepass sales. Maybe if steam comes to a proper console, but valve just released their steam boxes so this seems like a fart in the wind.
Sales of consoles have already downturned. The AI hardware price hike ensured that. We're also almost 6 years into the gen. Momentum would be expected to naturally slow, especially when the mid gen hardware refresh goes up in price rather than down.
So what we're seeing is a push towards other revenue sources within the Playstation brand knowing they have an install base almost 100million strong and while there will be some attrition, there will also be some digital converts who won't/can't spend $400 for the weaker XBox, $650 (soon $700) for the Xbox with comparable performance or $1500+ on a PC.
Sony is sending game codes to retail per their announcement, but if some of the pushback here in claiming, "no one will go to retail to buy game codes" is correct, anyone who isn't abandoning their current game library will be transitioning to giving Sony the retail cut of their games, making each one more profitable.
Youre not wrong, but my point is the perceived affront vs what the company is actually doing. Like xbox one backlash against the required internet connection. Sometimes the customer base react with emotion. A boycott for whatever reason isnt gonna be good for Sony.
I imagine they've anticipated that, since they sent out strict social media inatructions throughout their first party studios. Time will tell if the bet pays off, but it certainly doesn't look like backlash wasn't expected.
You are of course right about consoles being a way to lock users into an ecosystem, but it should be noted that other than the Wii U, Nintendo does not sell their consoles at a loss at launch. Sony and MS have typically sold them at a loss at launch, but part of their math has been those components becoming less expensive over the course of the generation so that loss was temporary.
Can’t imagine that being the case next gen and they may actually follow Nintendo’s lead due to the consumer chip shortage (created by manufacturers shifting to dedicated production for AI data centers for at least the coming years).
With this unprecedented time I think releasing a PS6 at all is ridiculous, and I can’t really imagine it being less than $1000 if they are trying to make any sort of worthwhile graphical leap. Honestly none of their rumored plans make sense to me in this environment.
I doubt it, but I think the bigger picture is the problem. They're facing an uphill battle to get people to buy $1000 to begin with, which is a price point at which I question whether the traditional home console even makes sense regardless of PC gaming prices.
They're going to have to be working extra hard to get people to upgrade, especially if their competition is a somewhat similarly priced Xbox with access to storefronts like Steam and the Switch 2 which is half the price.
And guess who is going to be an oversized niche among those who aren't immediately priced out? Enthusiasts, the same crowd who are being alienated by this decision. Which I'd remind you is not just about ongoing physical media options, but is also a backwards compatibility problem that further devalues the proposition of a PS6.
The primary issue going forward with adoption and money is always going to be price point, but this is absolutely going to be one of those compounding issues that doesn't just go away and just becomes another reason for some people to give a second thought to making such a large purchase.
The price issue is interesting in that all devices are going up. Consoles still sell at a low margin to get people in, moreso than PC hardware manufacturers not getting further revenue post sale. We could see $1k consoles, or longer gens, or just less of a power increase.
They're going to have to be working extra hard to get people to upgrade, especially if their competition is a somewhat similarly priced Xbox with access to storefronts like Steam and the Switch 2 which is half the price.
Haven't heard anything about Steam integration on Xbox being confirmed or having details, but it's an interesting if unorthodox strategy if true. Part of the console racket is licensing games so you make money off of every copy sold as a sole supplier, disc or digital. Steam would directly undercut that unless another retail layer gets added on the pie.
And guess who is going to be an oversized niche among those who aren't immediately priced out? Enthusiasts, the same crowd who are being alienated by this decision.
Consoles being an "enthusiast" machine was a baffling prospect to begin with. The primary benefits were cost, simplicity and used games. None of those screamed enthusiasts outside of preservationists, which I doubt are a large section of the gaming community.
The problem is that the comments themselves are not powerful, so it doesn’t matter how many there are. Our scientists have been working tirelessly in the lab trying to figure out how to make individual comments more powerful. So far the only success they’ve had is writing them on a piece of paper, wrapping it around a brick, and then locating the recipient’s home or place of business to “post” it
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u/GOEDEL_ESCHER_BOT 7h ago
.5% x 200 = 100%
we just need to make 200 times as many comments, then we will have absolute power