Over the last several months, the PlayStation Universe and wider gaming community had been looking forward to the unveiling of the PlayStation 5, Sony’s latest gaming console. And last week, Sony finally showed its hand; an awesome futuristic-looking console for gamers to feast on. One thing though, Sony unveiled not one, but two versions of the hugely anticipated PS5. What gives? Closer inspections reveals Sony’s clever ploy. The company effectively sidestepped the gamble on the future of gaming and covered of all its bases instead.
So the Japanese gaming giant released a PS5 console with a disc drive, and one without. This means that gamers will be able to purchase a console that they can use Ultra HD Blu-ray discs with or one which will use digital games only.
Covering all Bases With One eye on the Future
The past few years have seen a rise in mobile gaming, while digital platforms such as Twitch and Google Stadia have taken the industry by storm. Sony’s own PS Stores has hundreds of titles available as digital downloads. For many industry watchers this was the direction that gaming was going in, with physical media dying out and a rise in digital downloads of games. As a result, at a time when the direction of gaming’s future seemed all but certain, Sony decided to play it safe by providing a nod to current technology while still looking ahead.
This is by no means a criticism, but an acknowledgement of a clever strategy at play. In one fell swoop Sony has manged to ensure the future of its latest console will not be affected by consumer tastes. The fast pace of technological advancement would suggest that Sony could well have just released a digital only console. However adoption of new tech takes time and it seems that Sony has acknowledged this. Throw in the fact that most prospective PS5 owners will likely own a PS4 or Ps4 Pro console, and you have the perfect strategy for a new release in this digital age.
Sony’s PS5 Strategy
In the highly competitive market that is gaming, there is no room for mistakes as they can prove to be costly. Google has the aforementioned Stadia, a cloud-based gaming platform, and Sony’s biggest console rival, Microsoft, is planning to release its latest console soon too. Add into the mix the success of Nintendo’s Switch console, and you have a situation where Sony could not gamble with the future of its gaming division.
Sony is a market leader in the industry and choosing one iteration of the PS5 over another would be akin to taking a spin on the online casinos in India, Vegas, or Macau! The better strategy is the course Sony has taken; cater to your existing fans while also introducing them gently to the future of gaming. It will be interesting to see which of the two consoles will have the most uptake once the PS5 console goes on sale this coming holiday season.
Digital Only? – There’s a Console for that!
For sure the braver move would have been to release a digital only console, but what’s the point of alienating a subset of your customers/ fans? So in this case Sony has played a blinder, continuing in past and present tech through the disc drive PS5, and looking to the future with a digital only console. Whether gamers gravitate towards digital only media doesn’t matter anymore because Sony has a console that caters to that audience. In the same way, any gamers that like to own physical copies of their games will be well served by exactly the same console, except for a slight difference in design.
The strategy bodes well for the PS5 console. Sony has already achieved high sales numbers of the current PS4 generation of consoles and looks set to achieve similar success with its latest offering. As the world moves slowly to a world where physical media continues to die out, Sony is well positioned to reap the rewards. – Your move Microsoft!
