PlayStation Boss Calls Xbox Series S “Problematic”

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Image: Microsoft

Microsoft’s weaker next-gen console, the Xbox Series S, has been pretty well received due to its bargain pricing, competitive hardware, and cute design. Too bad Sony doesn’t agree. Speaking with AV Watch, PlayStation head Jim Ryan criticized the concept of weaker, lower-priced consoles, claiming that they fail to provide good results.

“The first thing I would like to say is that I respect every competitor’s decision and their philosophies,” Ryan said, as translated by Video Games Chronicle. “Clearly, price is a very important factor. We respect other companies’ competitive strategies. However, we are fully committed to and believe in our current strategy and the effect it will have.”

“One thing that can be said is that if you look at the history of the game business, creating a special low priced, reduced spec console is something that has not had great results in the past,” he continued. “We’ve considered that option and seen other executives who have attempted this discover how problematic it is.”

“Based on our research, it’s clear that people who buy a game console want to continue using it for four, five, six or even seven years,” Ryan added. “They want to believe they have bought something that is future-proofed and not going to be outdated in two-to-three years. They want to have faith that if they end up buying a new TV that their current console will be able to support that new 4K TV they are considering on buying.”

Wait a second – did Ryan forget the fact that there are two PlayStation 4 models on the market, one of which is considerably weaker? Is he suggesting that the PS4 Pro, which only came out three years after the base model, was a mistake? Or is he subtly hinting that console revisions are cool, but only after a certain time frame so profit can be maximized? It’s all a bit confusing, but we’re guessing that a PlayStation 5 variant, which seems inevitable, won’t be released any time soon.

A handful of developers did express their grievance at the disparity between Microsoft’s next-gen Xbox consoles, but they fail to support Sony’s argument because big-budget, first-party PlayStation 5 titles (e.g., Horizon Forbidden West) are also being released for the weaker PS4.

Tsing Mui
News poster at The FPS Review.

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