And when these companies actually launch their products, it seems like we’ll have one crucial difference in launch strategy. I’ve talked a little bit about Microsoft’s decision not to make any first-party exclusive games for the Xbox Series X at launch: it’s more complicated than it seems, but the commitment to cross-gen development and keeping the Xbox brand as wide as possible points to the company’s aspirations towards a platform-agnostic future. Microsoft forgoes that angle of attack in order to foster a larger base of Xbox players, but Sony seems like it’s going to maintain it. We’ll know more after the PlayStation 5 announce, which is rumored to be happening in February at some point. But if Sony can bring a big system-seller to the table, it will confer an early advantage to Sony in the realm of PS5 vs. Xbox Series X. That’s not the only theater in this war, of course, but it is an important one.

Source: Forbes January 21, 2020 16:18 UTC