According to market research and consulting firm DFC Intelligence, Microsoft may have Todd Howard (whose Starfield was CERTAINLY made for PlayStation 5, as was Arkane’s Redfall!). Still, it won’t be a significant chop from PlayStation’s market share…
According to DFC, Microsoft doesn’t have a stable schedule of frequent, big-budget, first-party Xbox exclusives, and hasn’t for a few years now, so it’s no wonder Sony is easily the frontrunner in this space. However, in 2023, the gap between Microsoft and Sony will narrow somewhat, as the aforementioned Starfield and Redfall, for example, could take some of the pressure off Xbox. DFC believes that because Sony was able to release its exclusives in time for 2022 (e.g., God of War: Ragnarök, The Last of Us Part I, Horizon II: Forbidden West…), they will have a somewhat weak offering this year (and we can’t argue with that, but there’s a chance that Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 could be coming in September, we wrote about that the other day).
“Of course, the big question is will these major titles be enough to encourage consumers to buy an Xbox Series X/S over a PlayStation 5. Currently, DFC Intelligence believes the answer is no. These titles have been anticipated for some time and presumably have been factored into purchase decisions. On the contrary, if a title like Starfield does not meet expectations, it could hurt Xbox Series X/S sales,” DFC writes.
According to the company, not many people may think they need to buy an Xbox Series console because gamers can grab a PlayStation 5 off the shelf (and even a Nintendo Switch) and then subscribe to Xbox Game Pass on PC, essentially making Xbox hardware redundant. There was even mention of the $68.7 billion acquisition deal Activision offered to Blizzard King. If regulators give the go-ahead, Microsoft can compete with Sony. Still, if not, Redmond’s position in the gaming industry could be undermined, as Xbox exclusives cannot significantly reduce the market disadvantage…
It would be hard to argue with that.
Source: WCCFTech
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