Why is Sony trying to kill the concept of the video game console?

A reader worries that Sony’s plans to make more of their games multiformat will destroy the entire concept of consoles, as they follow the same path as Xbox.

At this point I think it’s clear that Xbox is dead. They’re the biggest publishers in the West but at such a terrible cost it’s almost poetic. No one’s buying their hardware and no one is ever likely to again. All the famous Xbox exclusive franchises are not only about to be not exclusive but they’re just one more disaster away from being dead franchises.

Xbox basically doesn’t exist anymore, the way it used to be. All it is, is the combination of Activision Blizzard and Bethesda. Everything else is an insignificant extra, that will probably end up being shut down in short order.

It’s a classic example of being careful what you wish for but disturbing because, like all rich bullies, Microsoft is now pretending that, actually, they meant to do that and rather than feel bad about turning the industry on its head they’re just going to carry on and make things worse. And I’m afraid that Sony is now doing the same thing.

Given Microsoft is many times their size, Sony should never have had a chance against them, if they were run by competent people. Call me naïve, but if I were Sony and I saw my long-time rival on the ropes I’d give them the old one-two and finish them off for good. As we’ve seen though they’ve done the opposite. It almost seems like they’re trying to copy Microsoft, except without the infinite funds and not owning two of the biggest publishers in the world.

Suddenly, Sony doesn’t care for exclusives and they’re embracing multiformat releases, even though that makes absolutely no sense for their business. Sure, they will make more money in the short term, but in the long term… there will be no long term if they destroy the whole concept of a video game console.

If you want to play Xbox games now you’ve got two choices: buy a dying console that Xbox aren’t even bothering to sell in some countries now or play them on PC or streaming. Microsoft make money out of this, of course, but they have no control over those formats and so they become just like any other publisher, like EA or Ubisoft.

There are two basic reasons to buy a console: the lack of fuss and bother (and generally lower price) compared to a PC and the exclusive games. I have long said that Sony releasing their exclusives on PC is a mistake because while you get some short term cash from it you’re eating away at the reason anyone would buy a console in the first place.

But now we hear that the August release of Helldivers 2 on Xbox Series X/S is not going to be a one-off, that Sony wants to release more games on Xbox and Nintendo Switch. Anything to make the smallest amount of extra money now, even if it means destroying their future forever.

Is Sony short of cash or something? Are their financials so bad they have to do the corporate equivalent of going to the pawn shop to make it to the end of the week? Not as far as I know, but that’s what they’re doing anyway.

There seems no point me even complaining at this point, as not only are they obviously not going to listen to me or any other fan but it seems to late. Sony had two choices when Microsoft messed up: go all out to show how good the PlayStation 5 and its line-up of exclusives is or… just sort of roll up and die for no reason.

And yes, I know the PlayStation 5 is still selling well but that’s because it’s the only game in town at the moment, now the Xbox Series X/S has gone to an early grave. But every year the PC becomes more and more popular and that’s only going to accelerate as one of the main reasons to buy a console is removed.

It’s not the end of gaming or anything – third party games will be unaffected – but the sort of exclusive games that Sony used to make are going to become rarer and rarer. They already are but when they don’t need them to show off their console, and act like a killer app, they’ll just keep reducing the budgets and the number of them they make until they don’t bother at all.

In the end, Sony will become a third party publisher too and even more choice and variety will be removed from the games industry.

By reader Dunbar

The reader’s features do not necessarily represent the views of GameCentral or Metro.

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