The year is coming to a close but as soon as 2020 hits, it’ll be a race to see which console manufacturer can gain the most favour for the next generation. Obviously given the massive success of the PS4, it’s likely that Sony will have a strong lead with the PlayStation 5. The console is rumored to be revealed at a PlayStation Meeting taking place in February 2020.
That doesn’t mean Microsoft is staying quiet though. The company officially announced Project Scarlett first and recently announced number of new IPs like Rare’s Everwild and Obsidian’s Grounded (not to mention slew of major additions for Xbox Game Pass). Does the company feel worried about any aspect of the PS5 so far?
Aaron Greenberg, who’s general manager for games marketing at Xbox, responded to a recent Kotaku Q&A with, “Not really. We’re more customer-obsessed than competitor-obsessed. I think Sony has built a great business, they have a very strong brand and a strong presence and we have a lot of admiration for what they’ve done.”
“Equally, we feel proud of the fact that we’ve built the world’s most powerful console, I think we’ve grown now our internal studios so we have one of the largest if not the largest internal studio teams, and we’re gonna continue to innovate with things like Project xCloud.
“We’ll innovate with different varieties of games—you’re seeing us grow our partnerships with Japanese developers and Japanese creators with things like the Yakuza series, things like more Final Fantasy games on Xbox Game Pass, the entire Kingdom Hearts series on Xbox. These are all from us listening to fans and dedicating time to fulfill those projects.”
Other factors like third party deals, first party exclusives, additional services, hardware, marketing and of course, pricing will also decide which console holds sway in the Holiday 2020 season. Nevertheless, it’s good to see that Microsoft isn’t on the back-foot like in pre-launch Xbox One days and is making moves to appeal to its core audience. We’ll see how Sony caters to its fans in kind within the coming months.