PS5 Hardware Has Second Biggest Month in UK on Back of 28% Bounce

Xbox surging some now. Maybe on the back of that new Halo game. It finally has a system seller.

I bought my nephew's a Xbox s and 12 months game pass each. Normally I would have bought them a couple of games each. I wonder if game pass is starting to effect game sales at this point

Mario Kart 8 is still selling amazingly well considering it's about 8 years old or so.

@TooBarFoo gamepass owners are still buying games though and they spend 50% more in the xbox store than none game pass players as well.

@lolwhatno they did have a good year end though, and dropped a huge amount of stock that still available now so they still selling systems.

Bad news for Sony. Alot of people who likely had PS4's last gen are looking to get on the next gen train - and if that means switching to Xbox because they can get their hands on a console they will. Most people will likely only buy 1 system a generation and given the ongoing disruption to supply chains and manufacturing, Sony risk losing a lot more customers here i fear.

Remember when they said console gaming was dead lol

Game pass is coming in its own and getting ppl moving to Xbox ,and you can't blame em for the value it really is with all the games released each month even if you don't like Forza/halo ....like me lol

@lolwhatno maybe they held the stock back for end of the year and Christmas and Halo, because before that Series X were more scarce than the PS5.

@Martsmall It should be noted that ps5 stock will still have played a part in keeping it down. Spartacus will turn a lot of heads back. As will horizons2 and god of war2 and psvr2.

@lolwhatno thanks! Personally, i think Microsoft's masterstroke was the series s. It seems to have been readily available, and an affordable route in to next gen gaming (which will also be attractive to parents). And one microsoft have customers tied to game pass, they will likely find people stay more invested in their ecosystem.

Fortunately, with greater competition, that could be good news for us playstation gamers. We saw it with PS3. Sony will have to double down on making quality exclusives, se uring 3rd party deals (like final fantasy exclusivity), and offering something different (like VR2). I actually have ALOT of hope and expectation that we'll see some truly special stuff coming out of Sony this gen

Xbox have two skus though, be interesting to see the breakdown of S over X.

Game Pass, Game Pass, Game Pass, it's all they've got really.

😉

Maybe one day I'll get one once TES 6 is launched but nothing else appeals.

I wonder how many parents who were frustrated by PS5 shortages decided to just buy an Xbox instead? I really struggled to get a PS5 myself but got lucky a few days before Christmas. Xbox seemed to be more readily available and didn’t go out of stock as quickly as PS5 did.

No increase in demand for Xbox, demand has been there from the start. Xbox has been reserving a lot of their chips for XCloud server racks so it simply has been shipping fewer units than PS5.

Ship more than PS5, sell more. That simple.

Do Sony really need competition to be great? Apparently they blitzed the last gen but still managed to put out a number of banging titles, they didn't seem to be resting on their laurels at all.

I still think if you value AAA single player games over everything else, PS is the best place to play. Unless you like cutesy stuff in which case Nintendo is for you.

Halo had something like a 10-15 hour campaign, as a SP gaming fan I think that's ridiculous. Imagine if HFW or God of War had the same, we'd be outraged. I know Halo also has MP and that's what a lot of people are interested in, but right now I still don't think MS are capable of putting out SP games equivalent to a God of War or TLoU.

@KayOL77 this is how it will go even though alot of ppl will disagree ,. Ppl will latch on to gamepass after getting a Xbox for Christmas then Thier friends join em and buy more ,more ppl join it grows like a spider web , ( most ppl know someone that will move because Thier friend/s has ) your putting a lot of hope In to Spartacus and my thoughts on this is what other ppl have said time after time on these forums Sony can't afford Xbox have Microsoft in Thier corner and it's already rumoured day one releases won't be a part of it that will put a lot of ppl off it, and Microsoft has the pc crowd to add as well

@hypnotoad As a new switch owner i'm on the fence, do I buy it or wait for MK9 it can't be far away surely?

@InvaderJim I’ve seen this “GP subscribers buy more games, therefore GP promotes game purchases” cited before, and it didn’t make much sense to me, so I’ve investigated how they came up with these numbers and it seems fuzzy. I’m not trying to argue or be fanboyish, but the data may have bias if it’s comparing engaged subscribed players vs the loads of people that just create an account and then never play games. Are they comparing apples to apples there?

Again, not saying one way or another, but I think there are clearly signs that many people play games on GP instead of buying the game outright. Enthusiasts gamers who subscribe to services will obviously buy more games than casual gamers who sometimes have an account but don’t even own a console. For example, I wonder if a similar thing could be said that PS Plus subscribers or PS Now subscribers buy more games than non-subscribers. I feel pretty confident that’s true as well.

I do think it makes sense that a game being on GP helps it get buzz in the community, and in the case of multiplayer games it promotes more sales, especially on PlayStation when it’s crossplay. So I can definitely see the “rising tide raises all ships” phenomenon for certain situations.

Again, I’m not being contrary here, just having an educated discussion because I find it interesting.

So Playstation 5 has sold 1 million last year in August and Xbox Series consoles overall reached a million just right after Christmas? They are damn close then! I mean UK was always a well balanced market but that's almost even. Well done Xbox.

Would be really interested in the series s to x split especially with the s being priced (in my opinion) In second console Territory.

The Series S is freely available to buy in the UK 24/7. It has been all year.

Just supply based sales.
Xbox total ship through of series consoles (not even sales) is only 12 million compared with actual sales of nearly 20 million for PS5, so I don't think that we have any indication of level pegging at this stage.

Not that I mind, I own all the platforms and healthy competition keeps all the format holders keen to serve us well....

All consoles are supply constrained. This is basically just a “who manufactured more this month” list. Personally, with MSs money, I’m surprised they aren’t always winning (except I don’t think loss making hardware sales are highest on their priority list currently).

@MightyDemon82
Buy it.
MK9 is just a rumour so far.
You're missing out on a fabulous game if you don't get it.
Also, I can't see Nintendo rushing out the next one seeing as how well MK8 is selling.

@Martsmall @Martsmall There will be a gamepass competitor I think sooner than we think. If anybody thinks gamepass is going to be a reason to just stick to Xbox while Sony offering closer to gamepass type services plus emulation is not going to sway people at least back to also include playstation is being very deluded. The trend for gamepass popularity will have been noticed and will be being adapted to. Sony have a huge wedge of cash at this point to weather a transition no problem. They are selling their own software a lot and have about 50m psplus subscribers. If you think sony are about to put their hands up because loads of series s machines that went unsold for a year now sold because other things werent available...well...watch!

@Martsmall it also needs to be said that. Sony haven't even started advertising ps5. They showed the video of chess being played with multiple pieces in play and people thought it was wierd. But Sony are up for the game.

@JAMes-BroWWWn Yes, UK has always been a strong market for Xbox. One of a few.

@KayOL77 if day one games are not included ....that is great for all them parents buying for Thier kids that have done over Christmas .... Pay for game pass and gets games day one as part of it that Thier kids friends are playing or pay for Spartacus and still have to pay out for day one games ... Oh and yeh cause kids love to leave what console are playing on with Thier friends don't they ? Lol as for wait and see ...I'm.stilll waiting not to pay for online saves not happened yet

@Th3solution I agree. It's the whole reason I bought my Xbox.

@Martsmall Sony's profits are not slowing. They are having a great cushion to deal with transition. Early PS3 was worst Sony ever had it in terms of profits, price of console, performance of console Vs 360 and barely any exclusives. And that became a draw(some would argue Sony even took that gen too). And that too was Vs Microsoft. This is the most successful Sony have ever been. This will be a much more interesting fight than any kind of clean sweep. Also,love all the microtransactions in the ms games! Tactics and methods are being noticed. And Sony games are still the creme de la crème. Watch!

@Th3solution You won't really be able get access to the data because Microsoft don't publish the data. But let's for argument's sake say that gamepass subscribers buy a lot more games than non-subscribers, this is a dynamic that will be totally mirrored should Sony's Spartacus be closer in conception to gamepass. Like somebody said above 'Rising tides affect all ships'

@KayOL77 I never said Thier profits were slowing,that's cause they charging ppl a lot of money for games , but I am saying most of the Xbox console sales are because parents ( who like to save money ) are getting them for Thier kids who won't want to move to another console once they are set with Thier friends and parents who won't spend more money than they have to (especially with rising prices on everything else bill wise ) so unless Sony throw in some day one like Xbox do it's gonna hurt badly losing them payers/players

Xbox has that underpowered system with no drive everywhere always in stock almost like they knew what was coming can get it free with Mobile phones that is how available it is!

@Martsmall Most of the Xbox s consoles were sold because their was little to nothing else available. S consoles sitting on shelves and gathering dust for a whole year helped that dynamic.

@KayOL77 I think that's rubbish but believe what you want , either way them parents who have purchased a Xbox most will stick to it and that's a problem for Sony no matter what way you look at it

I'm so curious to know how well it would be doing if everyone that wanted one could get one.

Its clear that both Sony and MS have 'strong' consoles and the 'demand' is higher than the Supply. Both are selling out as many as they can make so its shows a 'healthy' industry.

You could 'argue' that MS's Series sales are 'surprising' after last gen and the fact that you don't 'need' a Series S/X to play any game (like you do with Switch & Nintendo) as all their games are on PC but maybe 'Game Pass' and the Studio Acquisitions now make it a much better 'value' proposition.

As for Game Sales, IF MS are bringing in over $250m a month in Subscriptions (I know some may well be paying less on some deal and others paying more for 'Ultimate' so that's a conservative guesstimate) then that's a LOT of money to invest in their studio's and their games that doesn't need to be 'recuperated' from game sales.

Craig Duncan (RARE) remembers turning to Spencer and asking the big question:
“If every single person plays Sea Of Thieves on Game Pass, and we don’t sell a single copy. Are you kind of cool with that?’”
Spencer was categorical.
“Absolutely.”

It was the answer to a shift in revenue tails in games. “Something like 75 per cent of a game’s revenue used to be made in the first two months of release,” explains Sarah Bond, head of gaming ecosystems. “Nowadays it’s spread over two years.”

@Daleaf Halo has proven that Microsoft will release an unfinished product with a lot of the features missing but a thriving microtransaction shop. What makes you think any Bethesda RPG isn't going to be absolutely riddled with bugs and microtransactions? A lot of people got over that by calling it 'charm' 😂

@Martsmall Prove they will stick to it in the face of incoming Spartacus, horizon2, god of war2 and psvr2 and older PS generations being added. What we may see is an attitude that gamepass and the ps equivelant become defacto subscriptions. All boats rise.

@Th3solution As someone with Game Pass, I am buying more games and perhaps more 'content' too. My Budget hasn't really changed although I am 'down' about £11 a month due to GPU prices but the fact that I can play games like FH5, Halo, B4B, Outriders etc etc as part of that, I can buy other games that I may not of. If I bought FH5, I couldn't buy Far Cry 6 or Guardians of the Galaxy. Whilst that does mean I am playing 'more' games than I could with the same 'budget'. Also buying more games because of 'sales' and the extra 20% GP discount means that they are more tempting. On top of that, I am more likely to buy DLC (10% discount for GP) as I haven't spent £50+ on the games.

As I have a PS5 too, I am spending a lot more time and money in the Xbox Ecosystem which may well be as high as 50% more than I was a few years ago. Also having 'free' access to games I was on the fence about may well lead to a purchase later on. For example, IF I was on the fence about Flight Sim, after trying it, it could lead to a purchase that wasn't going to happen...

I don't know how they determined those figures but I am buying more on Xbox despite having Game Pass and some of that is down to spending more time on Xbox, getting tempted by deals on games I wouldn't of had I not played them etc

@Col_McCafferty

Each to their own but a 10 - 15 hour campaign sounds ideal to me, the game finishes before the repetition really kicks in.

In my opinion, Miles Morales is a better game than Spider-Man due to its shorter length. But I've been gaming for a long time and becoming jaded with modern gaming and over-familiarity. I can't fault the quality of Sony's AAA games but they do somewhat lack variety - open world battling in Spidey, open world battling in God of War, open world battling in Horizon. And this is why I think Astro is still the best game on PS5, it gives me that fun factor and creativity that I often get from Nintendo.

As I say, each to their own and I am a bit jaded these days having been gaming from way before PlayStation was even a thing.

@KayOL77 I don't know if your young or just deluded and coming off as a young Xbox hater either way

It simple parents will NOT spend money they don't have to , game pass price with day one games or Sony price without day one games that will cost £60/70 each one .... Hmmm it don't take a genius to work that out

Is this how xbox console sales are reported, X & S lumped together and classed as one console?

@BAMozzy same here I'll give moving out as a example among many , got the dlc on console and pc and am hoping for more and if so it's a day one buy for me

@Martsmall PlayStations profits consist largely of subscriptions. An extra tenner for a game that's pretty much done with minimal microtransactions and industry leading polish and production values is a win in my book. And in a lot of people's books.

@Daleaf I've not heard of halo being bugged but it is definitely missing a lot of features. Bethesda RPGs are a different beast entirely.

@KayOL77 maybe In your book but them subs they get some are now paying Microsoft instead of Sony after the Christmas period and it's not just £10 is it,if they don't include day one it's £60/70 no parent in Thier right mind in the current climate would think woohooo I've gotta spend more money , and face it most young gamers will stick with what Thier mates have instead of having a console for a few games that will take them away from Thier friends

@MatthewJP It will be reported whatever looks more favourable.

@Martsmall You think the pendulum swings one way and just stops?

@uptownsoul Yes. Xbox owners seem to think that a lot of people have no memories of pleasure from playstation brand and once they buy an s they will be forever converted 😂. It's not also like ps5 is going to become more and more attractive over time. 😂

It's all about stock, Xbox got a lot of stock in December for December meanwhile a lot of PS5 stock in December were preorders for January so I'd guess PS5 will be a lot higher in January.

@Martsmall Im not insulting you.

@KayOL77 no worries I never said u were

After having a PS5 since day one, I'm relenting and getting a Series X with Gamepass as soon as I can obtain one - will just be nice to have access to everything on both platforms with no missing out on any particular game.

But I'd emphasise this will be to go alongside my PS5, not replace it.

@dav2612 Fair enough but God of War isn't an open world game.

😛

The rest of it, yeah sounds like you should stick with Nintendo. Sony makes the types of games I like, if they didn't I'd probably not game at all.

@redcorpuscle Indeed, and many xbox users just now will find in time they also jump on ps5.

@Daleaf
You describe my experiences perfectly. Game pass ultimate for 24 months here - and a 3090 PC and a series X.
Despite this, I've played at least 85% on PS5, so much so that I had to buy a second so I have the option when my wife hogs it!
I like FH5, but its not perfect and I don't think it will hold my attention in the way FH4 did. Don't understand why people rate Halo infinite at all. Yes the gun combat mechanics are nailed, I get that, but the mechanics were nailed in the original trilogy.
In every other way I find the game very poor - it looks last gen has no variety or graphical finesse and tells its story in the worst way I've seen for a very long time. This is the premiere title from the worlds biggest tech company - it should be written by the very best script writers and delivered like a new netflix epic production, but instead we get drivel story told whilst looking at a hologram on MC's hand for the entire game. I was glad to complete the campaign and will never go back.

I see the appeal of games pass, if you don't want the latest stuff all the time, it means you get to play games without running out of titles for a very reasonable cost, and get to try stuff you would not have bought. I'm also subbed to PSnow for the same reason.

But if you are gamer with enough money to buy the games you want, I can barely keep up with the titles I have to play on PS and the majority of games I think are genuine great experiences are on PS. Maybe that will change, but I think that's unlikely:)

I hear this view expressed so rarely that I'm delighted to see someone else call it as I see it too - it shows I'm not completely deluded!

Ben well over a year, never seen a ps5, neer seen one in a shop. Still had no chance to buy one (not giving scalpers a single penny).

I was super hyped to buy ps5 on day one. Over this long year I have totally lost interest in it and if the stores filled their shelves with them tomorrow I wouldn't even care at this point.

@Col_McCafferty

God of War is certainly not the linear experience it started out as. It might not be fully open world but a lot of the ingredients are there now. Never been a fan of the series but I did actually enjoy the last one to my surprise.

As for sticking with one console manufacturer... if only. They all ultimately offer something I'll want to play. And Nintendo can't satisfy my driving game needs.

Also, the Series S is a 'great' price for parents and people still with HD TV's that don't 'need' to spend an extra 200 on for 'resolution' their TV can't show. Also, with Game Pass, its a fantastic value '2nd' console for PS5, Switch and even PC gamers (as the games are cross play with PC, you keep your progress).

All those games that also came to PS on Day 1- MLB21, Outriders, B4B etc, all those games PS gamers missed (Sunset Overdrive, Ori, Forza, Gears, Halo, Sea of Thieves), as well as all those games coming (Starfield, Redfall, Fable, Perfect Dark, State of Decay etc) all in a small, relatively cheap package makes it great '2nd' choice - especially as you 'never' need to buy a game on it. Any game not on Game Pass on Day 1 will likely release on PS5 so buy it there and just keep the Series S for Game Pass.

The money 'saved' on games like MLB21, Outriders, B4B, R6: Extraction, Plague Tale etc that you may of bought on PS5, can go on games like R&C, Returnal, Horizon, God of War, GT7 etc and if you really like any of those on Series S, you can buy on PS5 to get the best visuals but don't have to buy and certainly not at release when the price is highest.

Good for Xbox and Phil baby. Tried playing Halo Infinite but after an hour just couldn’t get past the tedious gameplay and that gimp Xbox controller. Bring in Horizon Forbidden West and God of War R!!!

That big drop of Series X in the UK Christmas week was just surreal. We saw here there was a somewhat big dump of PS5, but XSX had 2 big dumps in a week, and the second was there for quite a long while, over a day or so. Nothing like that happened in the US. We got a Walmart drop of XSX 2 weeks before Christmas that lasted 45min to an hour, and that was about it. That certainly gave MS the big boost in numbers over PS5 for December.

Even if it's caused by a shipment numbers ping pong, it's good to see competition actually happening in the UK for a change. Last gen's monopoly just sucked on all sides. The industry has been so unhealthy for the last 8 years with a lopsided monopoly. Heck, the past 15 years with PS3 practically MIA most most of its life, then X1 + Nintendo mostly MIA the following gen. It feels like we've finally course corrected and have proper competition going again. It's as big a win for PS fans as XB fans, since Sony's been very much taking their locked customer base for granted with their policies and practices, and won't be able to do so going forward. It might be the first proper fight since the PS2/XB/GCN/DC era.

@BritneyfR_ee Funny we don't see Patcher commentary every other day anymore.... I thought phone gaming destroyed handhelds, Switch never happened, Vita crushed 3DS, and consoles were history circa 2013.

@hypnotoad ok cheers mate!

I can 100% guarantee if the stock issues didn't exist then the ps5 definitely wouldn't of been in 3rd.

And it still wouldn't of made 1st either

@meistergeister halo feels like an arcade game and the open world was just dull and boring to explore, I honestly didn't understand the hype or the scores it recieved

@JAMes-BroWWWn These are monthly sales figures i think not overall. I think PS5 still has an overall healthy lead. Competition is good and healthy for us consumers though.👍

It isn’t surprising (that Xbox sales get a temporary boost) if they finally decided to ship more SX that people want instead of SS.
December is a crazy month indeed and the Switch the real big winner despite some press making different headlines.

@UltimateOtaku91 IMO Halo (campaign) and Returnal have more in common than they have different. Both aren't particularly epic or engaging narratives or worlds, but the gunplay on both is just pure arcade fun, and polished to a high shine.

But I also think Halo should be kind of in the background like Returnal is for the same reasons. Both are, at heart, just arcade shmups you play for the giggles and adrenaline, not for some deep exploration adventure. Making a big AAA blockbuster spectacle out of Halo just seems silly.

The coop would set Halo apart a little...but 343 was more interested in samurai and cat ears than shipping a complete game.

@hypnotoad i think they are counting the game was bundled with switch over christmas as that was the hot bundle switch and mario kart so they could be counting that as a retail sale

@Daleaf you must play the xbox a decent amount to be able to pay for gamepass using reward points though...

@BAMozzy That’s an interesting take and I can see from your experience how it could be true that GP hasn’t discouraged purchasing games. And I hadn’t thought about how some people would just shift their game budget money to non-GP games, and just spend the same dollars in a different place.

However, you would definitely be considered an outlier, a gaming enthusiast of the highest order (most of us frequenters here are) and set aside a healthy monthly gaming budget which allows for multiple subs and purchases. I suspect the average gamer won’t keep their purchasing dollars static if they end up having access to a couple dozen games that they can fill their time with without paying extra. But I could be wrong.

My main trepidation is if this “increased purchasing” by GP subscribers is more due to DLC, and expansions. I’m not a fan of those in general.

@Titntin Yours is a illuminating perspective, and you’re right - I rarely hear that kind of take on GP service and the big Xbox games.

I just hope that whatever GamePass competitor that Sony comes up with doesn’t lead to a similar erosion of quality and watering down of their big exclusive content.

If I’m honest, my most valuable commodity is probably time, and so given the choice of spending $100 for 6 months of unlimited access to 100 titles that are okay, or buying 2 games that are tight, excellent experiences to spend quality time with for for 2-3 months, I’ll take fewer games but higher quality experiences. Of course, maybe we can have both. Pay $200 a year and get GT7, HFW, GoW:R, Forspoken, FFXVI, Factions, Spider-Man 2, etc, etc.? I’d take that.

@MatthewJP isn't it the same how ps5 digital and ps5 disc are reported together? Isn't it the same as how ps4 and ps4pro was reported together?

@UltimateOtaku91 totally agree. Imo an absolute terrible game & the most over rated game that I’ve ever played.

@Th3solution If you can buy a AAA game or two a month, a £7-11 monthly sub isn't going to affect that. No way could I justify buying B4B, FC6, GotG, FH5 and Halo as well as the indies and older games I got in a few months but because most of those were on Game Pass, I bought FC6 & GotG.

I may well be an 'outlier', an 'enthusiast' but you'd have to think that many were enthusiasts to want to 'subscribe' to get more games - especially in the first year or two of the service. Trying to reach, let alone convince the 'casual' to subscribe to a gaming service when they don't really play games often isn't that easy - its like trying to convince someone who doesn't watch much TV to subscribe to Netflix.

As I said, I don't know how they were able to measure it -a simple case of buying more 'digitally' would show an increase as MS has no way of telling how much I was spending on 'Physical' to know that I am spending more.

As for DLC, there are more and more games that offer DLC - partly to keep people playing and partly to keep its name out there to maybe attract a few more purchases. I have no issue with buying DLC - Blood& Wine (Witcher 3) was bigger and better than most AAA games on its own for example. However, with sales and Game Pass discounts regularly offered, it does tempt me to buy more.

Point is, If you have a 'budget' for games, a small subscription doesn't impact it too much and that 'budget' can buy Horizon:FW, GoW:R, Spider-Man, Wolverine and the games I want to play that aren't on GP and GP will give me Redfall, Starfield, Perfect Dark, Avowed, Fable, Scorn, Stalker 2, Plague Tale etc. I don't care if GoW:R comes out around November -it won't be 'competing' with 'Starfield' for my 'money', maybe my time but its not forcing me to 'choose' because my 'budget' won't allow me to buy both on Day1.

@BAMozzy I’ve toyed with the idea of being multi-console and my main issue is time. Obviously I’m not made of money either, but the bigger limiting factor is time. In the movie streaming analogy, I subscribe to Netflix, Disney +, and HBO Max and have more content than I could ever hope to watch and honestly I barely use them to their fullest. As a result, I haven’t bought a movie disc or digital in years and my trips to the theater have drastically declined since streaming services have popularized (I used to buy at least one movie disc a month and go to the theater at least once a month). Obviously COViD has affected that too, but I feel like streaming media has decreased my movie purchases to almost zero.

I know video games are inherently different from movies, so it’s not quite a direct comparison, but from my standpoint, I can’t see how having a huge streaming library would result in anything more than cutting down on my game purchases. But it’s very possible that I’m the outlier here and maybe most people have a lot more time to invest than I do.

And to be clear, it’s great for the consumer. I’m glad I don’t have a bunch of movies to buy or I don’t have to run to the theater. There’s no question that formerly I would have dropped $15 to go see Eternals at the theater before, but now I’m just like “Eh, I’ll wait until it hits Disney+” So for me, it’s great to save the money. I’m not sure how good it is for the industry though. (Incidentally, I went to see Far From Home since I knew it wouldn’t be on any streaming service for a very long time and it might be one I actually buy when it comes out because it won’t be on a service)

So what I’m planning to do this year if I expand to other consoles is go with a Switch first. Because it is attractive to have the portability for time management, so it won’t actually compete as much with my large PlayStation backlog because it will be game experiences away from the TV like when I’m traveling or in bed, etc. Also the library is not as big and intimidating.

I think we’ll find out soon enough, because PlayStation’s version of GamePass will likely be hitting us before too long and I’ll be interested how that changes game and console buying patterns across the industry.

@Th3solution I used to buy VHS, then DVD's but by the time BluRays launched, all my 'movies' were viewed on Sky - why buy when a few months later, its on Sky and now with SkyQ, I have access to hundreds of movies, TV shows etc that I can download to watch so haven't bought a Movie for decades.

The difference is that when I was buying movies, I also 'rented' a lot too - but that was because in the UK, there was only 4 channels and movies could be 'years' before they got shown. Access to them was 'very' different. With a 'fairly' large collection, many of them only ever got viewed 'once' and then 'never' watched after I got Sky because I could always find something to watch.

For Studios like Universal, WB etc, they relied on the Box Office Sales and then the VHS/DVD/Bluray market to recuperate costs as that was the 'only' way to watch these and that's how they recover the 'huge' budgets - long before selling the rights to broadcast to Terrestrial TV. Netflix had to build up enough Subscribers before they could start making their own TV/Movies and are now in a position to make Films on a large budget funded purely by Subscriptions without the 'Box Office' or DVD sales.

Games are also not the 'same' every time you decide to play and not over in a couple of hours. You can sub to Disney+, Netflix etc for a month, binge watch the films/TV shows and cancel until there is sufficient new stuff to 'binge'. You can't binge play games in that way. Maybe might complete an 'Indie' in a session or two, but good luck beating Skyrim in a month - especially if you also work...

@KayOL77 yes, I ummed and ahhed a lot at the start of the gen before going for PS5, and I'm sure if I'd plumped for Series X back then I'd be scouring the web for a PS5 by now instead of the other way round 😀

More competition and choice is never a bad thing!

@BAMozzy I actually ran into this issue recently - I have been wanting to add TLoU2 to my backlog, and when it got added to PS Now I considered just subscribing for a month just to play that one game because at the first it was actually cheaper than buying the game. But I didn’t have the time to play it yet and in the meantime TLoU2 got steeply discounted over Black Friday and I was able to pick up a copy really cheap and so I can play it eventually on my own schedule. So I’m definitely not opposed to sub’ing to a service for a month just to play one or two games for cheaper, but the timing has to work out.

As for Sony's 'competing' service, I can't see Sony putting their Games into a Subscription service on Day1, maybe 6mnths later, but not day1. Sony want to be 'best selling', make a point of being #1 selling game and want that 'day1' £70 money. Their primary platform is the Console so that is what will get supported first to get people to buy their Hardware.

MS's primary platform is Game Pass. All their studio's are making games for Game Pass and their 3rd Party deals are for Game Pass. Xbox only console gamers don't benefit from MLB21, R6:Extraction, Outriders, B4B etc - they still have to buy these (like PS gamers) - it benefits Game Pass subscribers. You don't have to buy a Series S/X to play MS Studio games either - although these are 'great' Game Pass platforms too. You could go 'Ultimate' and get streaming (and EA Play) and play on 'any' Game Pass compatible hardware - inc Mobile (for on the go - get back home and instead of 'docking' switch, play on PC or Series S/X) and even last gen hardware too.

You need a massive Subscriber base to make enough money to keep your Studio's open. If MS are making $3bn a year ($250m a month), that's paying for all the development costs and overheads for 25 studios - no way does 'each' studio with several hundred salaried staff in each $10m a month (That's $120m a year) - if it did, then games that take over 5yrs would be astronomically high to make. H:ZD cost about $45m to make. That means that games are already 'paid' for by the Subscribers so that it doesn't need to sell 5m copies to break even. Any 'sales' to non-subscribers are then pure profit.

Whilst many 1st Party games are unlikely to be 'removed' from Game Pass, there is still the chance they will at some point and that may well prompt people to buy - especially as you get 20% discount on top of the significantly lower price point the game has dropped to. That can make the difference between picking up the Physical edition (just to keep the option to play) on sale or the Digital version which is now 'cheaper'. Often PS+/Gold sale prices are more expensive than the price the Physical versions have dropped to.

@Th3solution for me, going multiconsole is less about the quantity of games exceeding available time (I too have plenty of to-be-played stuff on PS4/5) and more about removing a barrier of access and potential frustration regarding platform specific titles now and further into the gen.

I also agree with an earlier point about Gamepass saving money on enough AA and indie games to go towards the occasional PS exclusive.

I am a 'Collector' so hated the idea of a 'digital' loan service but Game Pass doesn't really impact that for me. Now I can play games like FH5, B4B, Outriders etc and instead of paying £50+ each to play day1, I can pick these up 'months/years' later on sale and instead buy 'other' games I also wanted. I have never purchased any Digital movie or Music (I still buy CD's) but Game Pass is helping me buy 'smarter'. I may of bought Back4Blood on day1 (as a fan of Left4Dead) but saved the 'initial' premium price, played it and then felt glad I didn't 'waste' that much on it. I can now buy it for £21 (at Game) if I want to, or wait until its £10.

Each to their own - we all have different budgets, time etc but for me, that '£11' a month (although I pay about £22 for 3months with 'rewards' - £88 per year instead of £132 which is the 'max' it costs) doesn't really impact my budget. Considering the 'price' of even an 'Indie' game (The Ascent was $30, Artful Escape $20), its saving me 'money' on the games I want as well as giving me access to games I would never of played. I think that (up to) £132 a year for that 'Library' of games - new and older releases, is superb value. Whether its your 'main' (or only) source of games as you could buy a Series S and GPU and never buy a game/DLC etc ever, or as secondary platform (PS5/Switch/PC gamers wanting to play MS Exclusives) or complimentary (as I would classify it in my situation) to your 'gaming'. As I said, I use it for games that I want to play and not 'limited' by my own budget (no way could I afford ALL the games), use it to make my gaming budget go a LOT further and giving me the chance to try games I would never of bought.

When I watch a 'trailer' for a game, I used to watch to try and decide if I thought it was 'worth' buying and if not, at what price am I willing to risk. When I watch a trailer for a Game coming to Game Pass, all I wonder is whether it looks like its worth 'trying'. No way would I have bought Halo:Infinite based on price and trailers, but the last trailer looked like the game-play was worth trying for 'free' and now almost completed the Campaign on Legendary (hardest difficulty) with EVERY collectable found. Still wouldn't pay £50+ for it, but then I don't have to. Therefore Game Pass helps me spend my money smarter, avoids some costly 'mistakes' (Cyberpunk LOL) and allows me to play many of the games I would not of because of the 'barrier' to try, because they didn't do 'enough' to justify the price to me and/or got forgotten about as its not 'just' new games. I'm not going to buy a 360 era game now but can play on GP with FPS boosts, res boosts and/or Auto HDR.

@Th3solution you make a good point about games like LoU2, R&C, etc in that you probably could just subscribe for a month and blow though these game stories instead of paying the £70 to play it on day 1 - another reason I don't think Sony will put their first Party games into a subscription service on Day 1.

MS's focus on Game Pass and their 'desire' to have at least 1 first party game a quarter as well as at least 1 'big' game, whether that's a multi-platform game (like MLB21, Outriders, B4B etc) or an Xbox Published exclusive game (like Contraband by Avalanche - maybe that rumoured Kojima project) every month to not only encourage people to subscribe, but also keep them subscribed for the 'next' month. January is a 'bad' month as far as big 'new' releases, but GPU is still giving you R6: Extraction ($40 for an $11 sub), R6:Seige and can play ME: legendary too via EA Play so even if its not a 'great' month that perhaps draws in Subscribers, its not a 'bad' month that its worth cancelling - besides, I'm still playing Halo, FH5 etc too...

If MS's primary platform was the console, then they would be making their games to release 'exclusively' on Console first to encourage you to buy the console. PC/Game Pass would get those games later. However, their games are to 'sell' Game Pass subscriptions which means a significantly 'higher' audience as Game Pass is on more platforms and then 'keep' you subscribed with 'Big' game releases every month.

Even if you do buy a Series S/X to be able to play the 'console' Exclusives, there is still a big incentive to Subscribe to Game Pass because that's MS's primary platform

@BAMozzy That might be a good compromise — have first party games be added at 6-12 months. Perhaps smaller titles could be included on the service day 1, like Erica or Concrete Genie in the last generation. The issue with PS Now is you never know when a game will be added. So it’s roll of the dice as to whether anything you like is on service any given month.
But I don’t see GoW, HFW, FFXVI, KOTOR Remake, GT7, etc. to be day 1 unless they charge a really hefty sub fee for their service.