Playstation 5 Being Less Powerful Could Impact Market Performance

December 31, 2019 at 5:13pm
By Jason Stettner

With the next generation on the horizon, speculation and leaks continue to appear. One that is perhaps more concrete discusses the possibility of the Playstation 5 being less powerful in comparison to the Xbox Series X.

A question that arises from this news is whether or not a weaker PS5 would impact its market performance. Some might look to the past in regards to how consoles sell based on their comparison to the direct competition, whereas things do change.

Looking back at the Playstation 4, that console sold quite well and part of the early discussion was the edge it had in performance and specs. That edge might not necessarily be there this time around. You can look at other factors that did contribute to that successfully launched console though.

It was available in many markets, had a far better initial display reaction and over the lifespan delivered highly acclaimed releases. Right now the launch is a bit mysterious, as Sony is still focused on the Playstation 4 which has a number of titles coming out prior to the next generation. We don’t know a lot about what’s coming to this next gen platform so it’ll be interesting to see that be revealed further later on towards launch.

For now, we have details about what sort of power it has and it’s a wonder whether or not the market will care about that. The Playstation brand has certainly cemented itself in gaming, at the same time I’d like to believe the market is a bit more matured in terms of understanding the technology behind the consoles. It’s certainly a bigger thing online due to content creators, and pushing those narratives to their audiences.

There was a lot of flak towards Xbox One for being underpowered, will the next Sony console face a similar situation if the leaks and rumors happen to be true? It’s something to ponder, it could be a factor for some gamers as I do know some that just simply buy the most powerful console on the market. It likely won’t be the same for everyone, but some people do like having the best specs possible.

Another thing to keep in mind is that consoles will be quicker to release going forward, something we saw this generation with the Pro and Xbox One X. I can only imagine we’ll see iterations faster, so perhaps this will only be a launch thing. I’m a big fan of power and tech based competition, would be neat to see a back and forth one-ups this generation. At the same time, a launch is perhaps a good indicator of where the console sales will go over time.

There’s a certain rush of momentum that can be built, and it’s interesting to see just how this might play out. There will be brand loyalty, but you have to keep in mind that many regular consumers aren’t as tuned into the market as others are. There’s a balance to be played towards cost, and the performance gamers will received from their consoles.

It's also neat that the market attitude is swaying more towards high end PC designs, another sign of the market changing. A lot of the dialogue around these consoles is also based on specs, as opposed to the features they might have. There’s not a lot of discussion about say how virtual reality will be handled, or the benefits of backwards compatibility that’s going to be present.

These are all factors to take into consideration, and that’s mostly what I’m getting at. There’s a lot to unwrap here as to whether or not the higher specs of the Xbox Series X will play into how the sells, or if it won’t matter to those buying the PS5 console in the slightest. That’s it for now, read our thoughts on the mystery of the Playstation below or check out the hub for additional coverage.

Read our The Mystery of the PS5
View our Playstation Hub