We have started to hear a lot of rumours about the PS5 recently—but the rumor mill is curiously silent on the next Xbox console. So far, we haven’t heard much on that front—is this because Microsoft is just good at keeping secrets clamped down? Or are they just launching their console after Sony’s? After all, an isolated launch worked wonderfully for Nintendo with the Switch—would it not serve Microsoft to do something similar with their next Xbox, too, especially since going head to head with Sony this generation didn’t exactly work out for them?
Speaking to GamingBolt in an exclusive interview, Wedbush Securites analyst Michael Pachter said that he doesn’t feel so. ”You know, I think Microsoft could try isolated launches, but the Xbox One X pretty much process they’re not going to do that,” he said. “It launched far too recently, so I don’t see a new Xbox launching in 2019, I don’t think so. And the thing is, both companies are pretty much aware of what the other guy is doing, so they’ll know if someone is working on a new console, and it’s coming. I don’t think- the reason the PS3 launched so late was because it was so complex, with the Cell processor, and Sony couldn’t get those fabricated quick enough. That kind of staggered launch won’t happen again. If one picks a date, the other will be there.”
”I think both the next Xbox and PS5 are 2020,” he re-affirmed.
Assuming the next Xbox and PS5 are both 2020, that does put both successor consoles comfortably far away from the Xbox One X and PS4 Pro respectively, so that their owners won’t feel burned by their purchases. The question now is—is a head-to-head launch actually something Microsoft should try, given how the Xbox One and PS4 launching together went for them?