For Sony and Microsoft, revenue growth is more important than any "console war" | Opinion
Not so long ago, the announcement that Sony didn't have any new entries in its major first-party franchises in the pipeline for the coming year would have been viewed as an extraordinary opportunity for Microsoft to gain ground on the market leader.There are many reasons why Xbox has faced an uphill struggle against its major rival. Brand strength and digital library lock-in are certainly among them, but the ultimate, seemingly insurmountable barrier was Sony's first-party studio system, which delivered an extraordinary line-up of hit software throughout the PS4 era and carried over into the current generation seemingly without stumbling – until now.Microsoft's own difficulties in building a portfolio of studios that could rival that line-up is well documented; its travails were constantly magnified by unflattering comparisons with PlayStation's studios seemingly humming along and turning out a steady supply of hit games. By some interpretations, at least, Microsoft has now spent the better part of $100 billion dollars trying to close that gap – becoming, in the process, one of the biggest game publishers in the world. Read more
Not so long ago, the announcement that Sony didn't have any new entries in its major first-party franchises in the pipeline for the coming year would have been viewed as an extraordinary opportunity for Microsoft to gain ground on the market leader.
There are many reasons why Xbox has faced an uphill struggle against its major rival. Brand strength and digital library lock-in are certainly among them, but the ultimate, seemingly insurmountable barrier was Sony's first-party studio system, which delivered an extraordinary line-up of hit software throughout the PS4 era and carried over into the current generation seemingly without stumbling – until now.
Microsoft's own difficulties in building a portfolio of studios that could rival that line-up is well documented; its travails were constantly magnified by unflattering comparisons with PlayStation's studios seemingly humming along and turning out a steady supply of hit games. By some interpretations, at least, Microsoft has now spent the better part of $100 billion dollars trying to close that gap – becoming, in the process, one of the biggest game publishers in the world.
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