A late-night leak forced Microsoft to officially disclose some of its plans for the launch of the Xbox Series X on Tuesday. While some essential details are still missing, what we do know now is enough to start painting a picture of where things stand right now in the latest console battle.
This is the start of the ninth generation of video game consoles, but it’s the first generation in which all three major manufacturers don’t seem like they’re actually trying to compete directly with each other.
The big takeaway from this week’s leaks isn’t really the Xbox Series X, the “featureless black monolith” edition of the hardware that will reportedly cost $499. It’s actually the fact that the Series X is launching alongside an all-digital downscaled $299 edition, the Xbox Series S, which Microsoft confirmed Tuesday.
The company claims the XSS is the smallest Xbox yet, with all of the advantages they’ve touted for the XSX such as faster load times and frame rates of up to 120 FPS. It also features an all-white design that looks like it was made to match the Xbox Adaptive Controller.
Did we mention you get all this for $299 (ERP) lol ? pic.twitter.com/0vPZ8y2BwU
— Xbox (@Xbox) September 8, 2020
If the XSS works like cheaper launch models from previous generations, you can expect it to have distinct drawbacks over the XSX. The lack of a disc drive is an issue if you want to play your older physical games; it may have less overall horsepower; and it’ll probably have an obnoxiously small hard drive compared to the XSX. In a day and age where a video game with 4K graphics can take up 100 GB, console storage space is likely to be at a premium going forward.
That’s all window dressing next to the price, however. At $299, the same cost as a new Nintendo Switch, the XSS is cheaper at launch than any Xbox since the Core edition of the Xbox 360 in 2005. Both it and the XSX are also reportedly planned to have an option for monthly payments, similar to the current Xbox All Access plan that charges $20 per month for 24 months for an Xbox One X.
With all that in mind, it’s easy to see why the Series S looks so much like the Adaptive Controller. One of the big keywords in game design circles for the last couple of years has been “accessibility”: making video games easier to play (offering more options for color-blind or disabled players, for example), cheaper to get into, and more available worldwide.
Microsoft has been making moves in this general direction for quite a while, but the Series S represents a big step forward for inexpensive gaming. With a Game Pass subscription, a monthly payment plan, and an Adaptive Controller (sold separately), the XSS might be one of the best dollar-per-hour deals in the history of the video game industry, and it has a robust array of accessibility options to pull in previously unavailable sections of the audience.
Now that the Series X’s launch price is out in the world, a lot is riding on what Sony opts to do next. The single biggest determinant of winning the console wars over the last few generations has come down to launch prices. In 2013, Sony famously waited for Microsoft to announce the Xbox One’s initial MSRP, then shipped the PS4 for $100 less, and that arguably did more than anything else to ensure its sales lead in the eighth console generation.
The PlayStation 5’s hardware is a significant advancement over the PS4, however, which in turn represents big investments in development and production. It’s also reportedly suffering from issues with component scarcity, as the PS5 uses the same kind of flash memory as the next generation of smartphones. In this environment, it would make sense if Sony shipped the PS5 at a relatively high MSRP, recession or not, and it’s got the market momentum and community investment to at least think it could get away with that.
The question is then whether or not Microsoft and Sony are even in the same market any longer.
Ostensibly, they’re still competitors, but Sony has been focusing on a more traditional video game audience during the eighth generation, while Microsoft is doing what Nintendo did with the Wii and trying to rope in new customers from outside the typical demographic. Sony has built the PS4 on strong exclusive titles, easy setup, and cross-promotion with its movie studios; Microsoft focuses on disrupting the traditional video game sales model with digital options, subscription services, xCloud, and Play Anywhere.
If they are competitors, then Microsoft just effectively forced Sony into a no-win decision. Either it ships the PS5 at a launch price that makes sense for it, given the costs incurred so far, and suffers a publicity backlash as a result, or it sets billions on fire by marking the PS5 down to a more accessible MSRP. However, Sony has so decisively won the eighth-generation console war that it’s under no significant obligation to react at all to what Microsoft has done. If push came to shove, it could probably ride the last-gasp sales from the retiring PlayStation 4 to carry it over to a point where it can afford to mark the PS5 down to a more affordable price.
Meanwhile, Nintendo is off doing its own thing, as usual. Nintendo’s audience is built on strong first-party titles, brand loyalty, and with the Switch, portability. It’s also made a lot of smart moves in making the Switch an ideal platform for both indie games and retro compilations. Most crucially, a lot of players have a Switch in addition to other systems; as per NPD Group research earlier this year, more than two-thirds of U.S. Switch owners also have at least one other console. As Microsoft has seemingly realized, Nintendo is a sort of symbiotic ally these days, rather than a genuine competitor.
Overall, the ninth generation of consoles is starting in a unique space. Each of the three major players is entering with its own staked-out space in the video game industry. Sony still favors the traditional console model, built on its first-party exclusive games and pre-existing market share; Microsoft is trying to broaden the overall market by making it easier and cheaper to play games on an Xbox than anywhere else; and Nintendo dominates portable gaming and enjoys a loyal hardcore fanbase.
More so than ever before, the console market doesn’t feel like several big competitors striving to outdo one another, but instead, three distinct overall approaches that aren’t necessarily influenced by one another at all. It’s a strange business, and a strange time to be in it.
