The next-gen consoles won’t have much of an impact due to the worldwide recession… but it will hit a bit later.

Ampere Analysis’ Piers-Harding Rolls’ report says the world recession (which will be much bigger than the 2008-2009 downturn, and even the 1929-1933 era might be „left behind”), caused by the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, will not be initially felt on the performance of the PlayStation 5 and the Xbox Series X. However, Harding-Rolls explained that the pandemic will hurt several sectors within the gaming industry in both near-term and long-term.

Barring issues within the supply chain and the delays of games (we’ve already seen examples: The Last of Us Part II, Wasteland 3, Marvel’s Iron Man VR, and soon, Ghost of Tsushima might join the list…), the analyst expects both the PlayStation 5 and the Xbox Series X to launch in November within the 450-500 USD price range.

This price will mostly be higher than what the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One had (the only reason why the Xbox One launched with a 500 USD price tag is that Microsoft forced the Kinect on the customers, which notion was quickly abandoned), and Harding-Rolls expects the early adopter crowd to push the demand for both consoles. However, things will change after that…

„We believe it is inevitable that a recession will undermine sales to an extent, but that any impact will be more significantly felt later in 2021 once the initial early adopter launch surge ends. As both new consoles will support backwards compatibility and most new third-party games over the next 18 months will also support the older generation of consoles, consumers impacted by a downturn may not feel the need to upgrade as early as they may have,” Harding-Rolls wrote. He thinks Microsoft’s All Access program (a smartphone-like program where you pay for the console and the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription for two years) would help grow the install base, and that Sony should follow this idea.

He has a point: initially, there could be money for a new console, but the handbrake might be pulled later. However, a price cut could improve the demand once again.

Source: Gamesindustry

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