Xbox vs. PS4 – All at sea

Sony’s PS4 launch puts Microsoft on the back foot. 

• With Apple doing little more than chugging along at WWDC, the big news of the week was the full launch of the PS4.
• There are three standout features.
  • The PS4 will be at least $100 cheaper than the Xbox One at $399.
  • The PS4 will have no restrictions when it comes to the trading of used games.
  • There will be no requirement to be online in order to play one’s games.
• The fact that online play will remain free of charge is also likely to be a factor.
• There is a case to be made that giving developers access to the used games market will allow them to charge less for a new game.
• However, at this point I am not convinced that users will be happy with this unless discounts are immediately forthcoming.
• I suspect that other features such as look and feel and hardware specification will now be secondary when it comes to user purchasing, and this puts Microsoft in a difficult position.
• Frankly, I did not see this coming.
• I had assumed that Sony would be forced to follow suit when it came to how it treats developers, but instead Sony has taken the bold step of putting users first.
• This is the right move by Sony and any protestation from Microsoft about how it is more than just a box for playing games and should therefore attract a premium, is likely to fall on deaf ears.
• This is because the television experience is going to be poor thanks to the intransigence of the broadcast networks (see here).
• This means that TV will not be a differentiator for the Xbox One meaning that it has to stand on its gaming proposition alone.
• With the vast majority of developers likely to provide games for both platforms, content exclusivity is also not going to be much of a selling point.
• Therefore I hope that Microsoft reacts by cutting its price to match Sony and by removing the limitations that it has placed on used and offline gaming.
• I was previously of the opinion that these limitations were not big problems because Sony would have it no better but Sony’s launch has turned that on its head.
• Microsoft now finds itself on the back foot and will have to react if it is not to squander the market leadership that it has carved out for itself in the console gaming space.
• For Microsoft, this about far more than just gaming and so it is very important that this move by Sony is not allowed to disrupt the opportunity that Microsoft has to become a major force in the living room.