Following the PlayStation 5 event hosted by Sony last Thursday, game industry research firm DFC Intelligence sent out an updated brief. According to the analysts, interest in the Xbox Series X events so far pales in comparison to the PS5 event that just took place.
One measure of how excited an audience is about a new system is how many non-industry consumers contact us about product reveal events. Starting on May 7th, Microsoft will be hosting monthly reveal events. However, the interest we have seen in the Xbox events paled compared with the June 11th Sony event (which may be a reason Microsoft is skipping a June event).
DFC Intelligence continues to forecast a sales advantage for Sony in the upcoming console generation. That said, the brief mentions how Xbox Game Pass is currently much more appealing compared to PlayStation Now, and if Microsoft's July Xbox Series X showcase comes with very exciting exclusives (which would be available on day one at Xbox Game Pass), the forecast may change.
With regards to the PlayStation 5 showcase itself, DFC Intelligence said the lineup of PlayStation 5 games was 'solid but not earth-shattering', though they expect some heavyweight announcements being held off by Sony, such as a potential The Last of Us Part II 'upgrade' for the new console.
For the Sony PlayStation 5 games, we were mainly looking at Sony checking the boxes on its key franchises. Sony did a pretty good job in this area. A new Spider-Man (Marvel’s Spider-Man Miles Morales) is looking like the key launch title. There is also a new Gran Turismo (7), a new Ratchet & Clank (Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart) and a new Little Big Planet (Sackboy A Big Adventure).
Most exciting was a new Horizon game (Horizon Forbidden West). However, like many of the products shown, no release date was announced. Sony did show off one new franchise, Returnal, from Finland based developer Housemarque. There was also a third-party exclusive from Square Enix, code named Project Athia. This game is from the developers of Final Fantasy XV.
Overall, the PlayStation 5 lineup looks solid but nothing earth shattering. There was no God of War and surprisingly nothing on The Last of Us Part II which releases next week for PlayStation 4. However, Sony may be holding off on announcing a PlayStation 5 The Last of Us Part II upgrade until after sales for the PS4 version slow down.
Most of the consumers contacted by DFC Intelligence doesn't seem to be very interested in the digital-only PlayStation 5 console.
There was also reveal of a digital-only PS5 version. Obviously, this is an appeal to the low-budget consumer. The consumers we speak with are generally not fans of digital-only consoles. The big concern is “I hope my parents don’t force me to get that one.” It will be interesting to see if manufacturing challenges limit the number of disc-based PS5 systems Sony can deliver this holiday.
What are your thoughts on this analysis and the PlayStation 5 event as a whole? Let us know below!
