It seems the next console generation’s entry price will be higher than what we have seen in 2013…
On Gamesindustry, several industry analysts shared their predictions. But now, we will focus on two analysts, namely IHS Market Technology analyst, Piers Harding-Rolls, and Katan Games analyst, Serkan Toto. They both believe the PlayStation 5 and the Xbox Series X will have similar pricing.
„I expect the PlayStation 5 to outsell Xbox Series X in 2020, but for both platforms to sell more consoles at launch than both the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One did back in 2013. One new factor for this upcoming generation is the impact of backwards compatibility on brand loyalty and audience transition. I think we’ll see less brand switching as a result. I also expect the pricing of both PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X to be similar, and I think it’s more likely than not they will be higher than the PlayStation 4 launch price point of $399. A high price point may prompt Microsoft to follow through with a dual-pronged product strategy and release a less powerful, cheaper version of its next-gen platform during the launch window. I don’t expect Sony to follow this product strategy at launch so this approach would give Xbox more go-to-market flexibility although it would also add complexity around marketing and consumer education. I would wait to bring a cheaper version to market,” Harding-Rolls says.
„Both consoles will be a lot more similar to each other in terms of specs, pricing and features when compared to the last generation. Microsoft will likely avoid shenanigans like higher price (I expect $499 price tags for both), weaker specs, restrictions to used disc sales etc. I also expect no handheld versions, a PlayStation VR 2, and only a single device (instead of a PlayStation 5 standard and Pro, for example) for both companies at launch,” Toto added. In short: they think a 500-dollar entry point will likely happen.
Daedalic (Deponia, Blackguards) CEO, Carsten Fichtelmann, and Martin Wilkes, a game designer, both got interviewed by EDGE, and WCCFTech took a few quotes. They talked about the next-gen consoles (but mainly the Xbox Series X), as well as their next game, which will be a Lord of the Rings title with a Gollum focus. „I think Microsoft is doing some things better than they did in the past. And the PlayStation 5 will be huge,” Fichtelmann said. (He probably meant he is excited, and he did not mean the size of the console.) „I’ve only heard rumours about the [Xbox Series X] specs, and it’s huge – very fast Flash memory. Which excites me, of course, but I don’t think that’s relevant to this project, because we’re aiming for PC as well. Especially for level designers, though, that’s a dream come true, because we don’t have to concern ourselves with streaming corridors [to load in the next part of the level] any more. I think that’s sometimes really painful – to squeeze down these otherwise beautiful, stunning environments because we need another corridor here,” Wilkes added.
So the two next-gen consoles are getting news each day at this point, but they seem to aim for a 500-dollar entry price. (The Xbox One cost that much in 2013, yes, but keep in mind that you were forced to buy a Kinect with it, too…)
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