PS5, PS4 Userbase Keeps on Getting Bigger, Attracts More Players Year-on-Year

But I was told this generation was bad...

I agree it will continue to grow, I expect the life of ps5 to be stretched to its absolute limit. Despite PS6 being around 2 years around the corner. I actually do not expect a lot of people to purchase PS6 in the first Q1 of its life

Probably from Xbox players making the jump over to Playstation and from new PC accounts playing games like HellDivers (if they count).

@Oram77 According the outspoken minority.

I think its bound to be going up, as xbots are finally starting to see through xbones lies. Most of those are now coming to Playstation. It all makes sense to me.

& Sony's game output will continue to shrink

most ps5s are free-to-play machines for the weekends

@Oram77

These numbers show that the previous generation is still very attractive for many users, 12 years after the launch of the PS4.

@Max_the_German That has nothing to do with what I was saying but thanks I guess

@Oram77
For me, this generation has been the best yet, with some really amazing games. I'm not against Sony/others doing remakes of a few games from last gen either. I also think the hardware - base & Pro, have been good. SSD's have made a real difference too.

Whenever I see these "its been a crap gen" posts, I have to really wonder what kind of rose tinted spectacles people are wearing.

I do have 3 major criticisms though:
1) I do have to agree that this gen would have been even better without Sony's LS push. I don't think their output has been bad, but it could have been even better.
2) The increasing habit of devs putting out unfinished/ unoptimised games really needs to stop before it seriously harms the industry (Day 1 sales are being damaged, with an increase in wait for sale mentality).
3) For sanity sake stop using UE5, or at least calm down using all its "features". (We still have 2 years to go yet!)

Are you able to tell me exactly what constitutes a Monthly Active User, please, @LiamCroft? Are these individual PlayStation accounts that are being played on? And is this just on console, or do PC players count too? Thanks...

@Rich33 Yes the one thing that has mired this gen is the Ryan/Hurst push for LS, no one can deny that, but even with that blunder they still had sucesses HD2 and GT7 coming to mind. The PS5 is still a great machine with amazing SP games. So when people it's the worst, I just don't understand what they mean.

@Rich33 i’m wearing the crystal clear ones😂

Thank you, @themightyant. That's very helpful.

Is the definition the same for Microsoft? I seem to remember that they were saying they have over 500 million MAUs, and I'm struggling to understand why they have so many more than PlayStation...

@Oram77 Quantity and quality are not equivalent.

Although I'm not as pessimistic as some people are, Sony's live service blunder held back the possibility of other better projects.

Concord will go down in history as one of the biggest gaming failures ever.

@nomither6
Even crystal clear ones (glasses) can have that coating that dulls down the really bright spots lol.

@Pat_trick Like I said, no one can deny it was a massive blunder, but I think Sony have started to see the light, I think they still need to cancel Fairgame$ as that's 100% going the way of Concord too 😬

@Oram77 True, they definitely improved as the generation went along. I also see no hope for Fairgame$$$

Thank you, @themightyant. I see so many people trying to say that Xbox is doing better than PlayStation due to MAUs, and yet we all know that is not really a metric that shows that to be the case.

PlayStation is in a far more stable, and better position than Xbox, yet some real fanatics will die on the hill that says MAUs is the only metric that counts. Truthfully, MAUs is about the only statistic that, on first glance, would suggest that Microsoft have the upper hand, but I think that the more rational, and sensible, among us, know that is not the case...

@Fiendish-Beaver Microsoft have more multiplatform games such as Minecraft that's on over 10 platforms but a Microsoft account is required, I'd say the same for any of their PC games as well. Also pretty sure a Microsoft account is needed to play small games like solitaire downloaded off their Windows store. They also have big mobile games like candy crush which has millions of players, probably more active players than their Xbox users.

Thank you, @UltimateOtaku91. As I said @21, it seems that both Sony and Microsoft count the numbers in a slightly different way, or at the very least, a large number of people are playing very small games on mobiles and PCs, which Microsoft are able to use to artificially inflate their MAUs. Personally, I trust the numbers that Sony put out far more than I do Microsoft's, and I would suggest that they don't really tell the whole story...

Long may it continue, I've been rocking with them since Christmas '96.

I guess am speaking from the perspective of being a console gamer, @themightyant. I trust Sony to keep doing what they are doing (albeit I'd prefer them to bring out more of the single-player games they are known for), whereas I don't trust Microsoft to keep investing in consoles.

I believe that the start of the next generation will see a very sizable shift of Xbox gamers over to the PS6, which in turn will harm those that remain with Xbox because Microsoft will likely react by raising prices on both their consoles and their subscription services.

Basically, I have far more trust in Sony than I do in Microsoft, and that is despite Xbox being my main. I think if Sony says something, they are far less likely to be trying to mislead or misdirect us, whereas I have little faith that Microsoft will either tell us as it really is, or stick to what they say.

I do believe that Microsoft will have a very bright future in terms of being a publisher, but have very little faith in terms of their treatment of their more loyal userbase...

Personally, I’ve loved this gen! The release of so many 3rd person action/adventure games and action RPGs make it one of my favorites yet. Also, the whole live service experiment thing doesn’t bother me at all. They’re a business trying to cash in on a trend. That’s understandable.

Concord’s release (and subsequent failure) didn’t prevent us from getting Ghost of Yōtei, Astro Bot, Helldivers, Death Stranding 2, etc. I think too many players were griping about “the resources” when something released that didn’t interest them.

I agree, @themightyant, though I would suggest that all the flip-flopping is most likely due to the shift in power within Xbox (or rather from it!). I think Phil Spencer and co. were able to make statements that they believed to be true at the time they were uttered, but that since those statements were made, Nadella and Hood have seized control, changed direction, and made Spencer look like a chump as a consequence.

I do not think that Spencer lied when he made these statements. I believe he had full faith in what he was saying. It's just that the rug has been pulled from under him.

Regardless, it has supremely damaged my trust in anything that comes out of Microsoft these days to the extent that I would trust the word of a Politician over anything that Microsoft says... 😂

Went full Playstation after Xbox failed me, so yeah I guess I am not the only one.

Fair enough.

I'm not won over yet, so while others around me have one, by all means. Games may be accessible or near real life or RPG systems people may like. I don't, the gameplay is not my thing, I'm ok with some dramatic but many of these are copy paste or trend following or tropes and other design I'm not into compared to past ones at all. Which I buy up, research and see the features of them and am impressed by them being left behind for more mundane and successful games IPs or ideas, not surprising. Like any music or movies, the weird get left behind and the easy to understand proceed, wow how boring are audiences. Sigh.

I don't play a sandbox to have a civilised world, I can play in an empty one and build whatever, explore whatever, build tech mod stuff if I want. I don't want to play RPGs with boring errands or sub par moveset use from skill trees, or outposts when I'd rather tower defence (Sunset Overdrive) or a better angle to outposts. But nope. Formulaic and low moveset games appear and I just ignore them as the refinement/consistency isn't going to draw me into those IPs or game design I already didn't like. XD

The 'choice' still feels limited, yet when I play a linear game I don't care how limited, it's already curated to show me (in the past more so) engaging movesets/level design, not just story as the only excuse, any story ones I just don't buy. If I want games with fun gadgets, commands for characters to control for tasks or anything else I'd rather play those old or modern in the last few years of the 'few examples'.

Or no Bayo 3/DMC5's bad multi character approach. At least Bayo Origins solved it per side of the controller but even still. Astral Chain did it fair but the other 2 didn't.

To me realism or reference material isn't appealing so I'm just not interested. I don't play games to be a movie/tv show with inputs. A puzzle game isn't, but action adventure/RPGs are and even RPG have always been dragged out novels with stats/sub bar combat and barely anything to interact with worlds so just corridors/worlds with errands. When watching those shows is more interesting then playing them, there is a reason I don't play them.

I play racing games, I don't watch motorsport, but do motorsport movies.

I don't care for cars/humans/animals for their character or brand image. I care for gameplay. Something that has been lost for graphics/story telling/scenarios or worlds apparently and generic gameplay.

So by being so similar, whether UI design (mobile/streaming service boxes and bland) (which I hate a lot, I like more different UI between software, not repetitive UI with navigation I hate and visual design I hate in consoles, PCs or games menus) or gameplay design and thinking themes/settings or characters, story, graphics sells a game.

They aren't selling me on those things, the gameplay isn't appealing.

Give me moves/gear I want to use, not easy to understand ones or basic human/animal movesets, when even PS1/N64 had more depth then nowadays and not covered by RPG systems or mobile game design.

Even Splatoon 2 has better grapple use in a linear game then any others featuring one. Titfanll 2 is the last shooter I cared about.Immortals/others are ok but not great. Space Marine 2 was a 1.5, not a 2 to me.

Part 2:
BOTW gave me that Spyro 2, Pitfall, Mario 3D games (Galaxy more so, using that Ice flower in Galaxy is more fun then for Mario Bros 2D games) and others kind of feeling of using abilities or items to do mundane collectibles. (only in BOTW as in Zelda formula, the materials don't interest me but the way to get them is fun, or shrine puzzles. Those are more my thing for a character to play with compared to other open worlds character movesets where it's insert generic character with ranged/melee, forget puzzle gear, forget cartoony or creative movesets to platform or other things. I respect what TOTK has for features then to play it.).

I don't care, PS5/Series/Switch 2 have not impressed with game design direction, IPs or features/peripherals at all for me to upgrade yet.

I play all genres, but wow the direction of so many shooters, platformers, racing have been appalling.

Puzzle/adventure games have been good but it's clear what they offer anyway. Tactics/hack n slashes vary.

It's just the dev/audience mentality more then the genre. The RPG systems or movesets, or level design, or missions or equipment, or worlds just don't interest me at all. It's not design I'm interested in, it's back tracked so much of that.

Humans/animals, etc. all control less exciting then their fictional or cartoony or interesting abilities/equipment or other gamey features. They just went away nowadays and that just deterred me away from modern gaming.

Only some Indies offer it. 'Some'.

So many past trends, especially platformers, racing and shooters, is why I can compare and go, shooters had these features, now we get COD/BF, not as many story driven ones & more multiplayer. Easy to pass on those. Even BF2 MC had a swap feature. Can't have that anymore. Destruction system lives on.

Racing has to be realistic/esports, or even without licenses like Wreckfest the progression is just so sad. Odd arcade ones.

Platformers are so disappointing by Indies or veterans & just copy paste nostalgia, some decent, but many are more fan games/student projects & need better animations/programming yet don't and play it safe.

Their ideas are weak & disappointing. I play a platformer for it's gameplay, not cute characters & worlds or to be kid friendly or 90s kids linear/open worlds. What kind of nonsense is that.

I don't buy games to play it safe, yet they do or audiences do apparently. Sigh.

Consoles peripherals or features are hit and miss.

IPs or studios i cared about are gone.

Switch 1 was ok, but only for Vita pots or odd games or niche Nintendo IPs, otherwise Sony/Xbox haven't impressed me.

PS4/Xbox One had a few IPs or features, this gen even less I care for to none at all.

Action adventure/RPGs have been pushing the current trends I don't like.

Many PS4 era design is in PS5 games, so I don't care for them.

Even early PS3 ones pushing this PS4 or current direction I was not a fan of.

@Oram77 if people say it's the worst generation, it's individual opinion. It usually means they had better enjoyment out of previous generations. If it doesn't relate to you, then ignore it. They might say it's the worst, but they'll keep playing on new hardware.