The next-generation PlayStation console, which has no official name yet (PlayStation 5?), has a few key strategic things already set in stone, according to the Wall Street Journal.

At a corporate strategy meeting, Kenichiro Yoshida, Sony Corporation’s president and CEO, said: „games have become more important than ever.” It means Sony will put a smaller emphasis on indie games’ introduction and shift over towards AAA titles, and, seeing the company’s strategy, exclusive games (as they will put more focus on big budget games being developed in their SIE Worldwide Studios). The bigger publishers will get the emphasis. Why? „People buy consoles to play high-quality games available only on that platform,” according to Yoshida. So the exclusives and the bigger publishers will get the marketing advantage in the next-gen.

Sony continues to look at Microsoft as their main rival (even though the two companies have agreed to work together on cloud-based technology!), as Nintendo „tends to appeal more to a younger audience compared to PlayStation’s core demographic.” Sony also doesn’t look at Google Stadia as a threat until the internet technology advances more.

The other factor where Sony wants to pull in a player base is the technology aspect in the next-gen PlayStation: they think the real-time raytracing, the up to the 8K resolution, and the much faster load times compared to the PlayStation 4, will be the points that will make the PlayStation 5 a hardcore platform. (Not to mention the backwards compatibility to PlayStation 4 titles – Sony wants a fluid generation change.)

The PlayStation 5 will likely launch in the 2020 Holiday season (between October and December), probably the same time as the Xbox Project Scarlett. We don’t know the pricing yet, but it will be a key factor. (The PlayStation 4 launched at a lower price point compared to the Xbox One, which – at that time – forced people to buy the new Kinect in the bundle, too.)

Source: VG247