Microsoft Released More Games Than Sony At State Of Play Conference
Sony PlayStation held a new State of Play press conference. Although it brought the latest information on more than 10 new games, the display of Sony's own first-party works was quite scarce.
In the new State of Play conference held by Sony PlayStation, although more than 10 new games such as Onimusha: Way of the Sword, Monster hunter Wilds, Tides Of Annihilation, Lost Soul Aside were announced, Sony’s first-party studio only released one of its own works, Days Gone Remastered, and there was no substantial content upgrade.
The contradictions of this conference reflect Sony’s dilemma in content strategy in recent years. Although the PS5 platform has launched exclusive works such as Stellar Blade and Final Fantasy 7: Rebirth, the former was developed by Korean studio Shift Up, and the latter is the IP of Square Enix. The lack of Sony’s first-party original lineup has become more and more prominent. According to statistics from Reddit players, Sony’s first-party studio has not launched a new IP for four consecutive years since The Last of Us 2 in 2020. Instead, it has launched remakes or derivative content such as The Last of Us: Remastered and God of War: Ragnarok Valhalla DLC.
In sharp contrast to Sony’s conservatism is Microsoft’s aggressive layout in its multi-platform strategy. Well-known game blogger @NextGenPlayer recently calculated that in 2024, Xbox will launch at least 8 works on PlayStation platform as a publisher, including Age of Mythology: Retold, Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition, Forza Horizon 5, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, Doom: The Dark Ages, Ninja Gaiden 4, The Outer Worlds 2 and new Call of Duty games. The blogger joked: “The number of games released by Xbox on the PS platform seems to have exceeded Sony’s own plan this year.”
For Microsoft, the multi-platform strategy is both a stopgap measure to deal with the sluggish sales of Xbox hardware and a long-term layout for building a “soft power empire”. By synchronizing future masterpieces such as Starfield and The Elder Scrolls 6 to PS5, Microsoft can maximize the value of IP and divert traffic to the Game Pass subscription system. According to investment bank forecasts, if the new Call of Duty sells 10 million copies on the PS platform, Microsoft will receive about $600 million in revenue.
When Microsoft “occupies” the PS platform with Xbox games and when Sony’s press conference becomes a “third-party booth”, what players really expect may not be the opposition of camps, but a more groundbreaking experience. Whether it is the open world innovation of Monster hunter Wilds or the reconstruction of the classic IP by Doom: The Dark Ages, the quality of content is still the key to determining the market victory or defeat. In this cross-platform competition, whoever can continue to produce phenomenal works of the level of Elden Ring can truly win the players.