The PS5 has already been outperforming Xbox Series very comprehensively over the last two years. Once a PS5 Pro is out, and Xbox has nothing similar to counter it with, I can only imagine the PS5 running away with it even more - especially because I imagine key multiplatform games such as GTA6 and even the next Call of Duty will end up being best on PlayStation by default because of the PS5 Pro (at least as far as consoles go).
But the PS5 Pro isn't the only thing Xbox has to contend with going forward, this is also the year that the Switch 2 apparently launches. The original Switch almost strangled and suffocated the numbers Xbox had been putting up until the end of 2016, and Xbox never recovered - and now the Switch 2 is almost here. This one could be even worse for Xbox than the original Switch was, because based on rumours, this time Nintendo's hardware doesn't have to sit out of major third party support and AAA games, the Switch 2 is, allegedly, strong enough to get most major games (probably not all of them, but most of them), including Microsoft's own Call of Duty - at that point, the Xbox starts to lose out on the one thing that has kept it going, which is that it is a good... well, that it is an alternative to PlayStation. If Switch 2 starts to fill that role, then between that and PC, I can see Xbox being even more crowded out than it already is right now, when Switch has very little overlap with it.
Honestly, based on this, I don't know what the path forward for Xbox is this generation. I think starting the next generation early is not a bad idea in and of itself, in that at least it's a fresh roll of the dice that gives them some chance of getting a do-over, but they keep failing because of specific internal issues that just rushing to launch a new generation will not fix. Their marketing is terrible, their global availability and localization is terrible, they don't have a steady stream of games, let alone a steady stream of praised and beloved games, and they have gone out of their way to remove any reason to buy an Xbox console, short of you wanting an Xbox console specifically to begin with. I don't think a new generation solves that - either they clean house completely, top down, and get new people in charge, or, and this one is probably likelier judging by the rumours, they take the route of third party publishing. Not saying the discontinue Xbox, they won't (and probably shouldn't), but I can see Xbox becoming more of a Surface style project for them, a showpiece hardware product that shows the intended best version of their software, but you can still get that software elsewhere.
Anyway, I don't know, I don't think the Xbox Series is strong or secure enough to survive a dual onslaught of a PS5 Pro and a Switch 2. What does GAF think?
But the PS5 Pro isn't the only thing Xbox has to contend with going forward, this is also the year that the Switch 2 apparently launches. The original Switch almost strangled and suffocated the numbers Xbox had been putting up until the end of 2016, and Xbox never recovered - and now the Switch 2 is almost here. This one could be even worse for Xbox than the original Switch was, because based on rumours, this time Nintendo's hardware doesn't have to sit out of major third party support and AAA games, the Switch 2 is, allegedly, strong enough to get most major games (probably not all of them, but most of them), including Microsoft's own Call of Duty - at that point, the Xbox starts to lose out on the one thing that has kept it going, which is that it is a good... well, that it is an alternative to PlayStation. If Switch 2 starts to fill that role, then between that and PC, I can see Xbox being even more crowded out than it already is right now, when Switch has very little overlap with it.
Honestly, based on this, I don't know what the path forward for Xbox is this generation. I think starting the next generation early is not a bad idea in and of itself, in that at least it's a fresh roll of the dice that gives them some chance of getting a do-over, but they keep failing because of specific internal issues that just rushing to launch a new generation will not fix. Their marketing is terrible, their global availability and localization is terrible, they don't have a steady stream of games, let alone a steady stream of praised and beloved games, and they have gone out of their way to remove any reason to buy an Xbox console, short of you wanting an Xbox console specifically to begin with. I don't think a new generation solves that - either they clean house completely, top down, and get new people in charge, or, and this one is probably likelier judging by the rumours, they take the route of third party publishing. Not saying the discontinue Xbox, they won't (and probably shouldn't), but I can see Xbox becoming more of a Surface style project for them, a showpiece hardware product that shows the intended best version of their software, but you can still get that software elsewhere.
Anyway, I don't know, I don't think the Xbox Series is strong or secure enough to survive a dual onslaught of a PS5 Pro and a Switch 2. What does GAF think?
. Chasing either Nintendo or PS for their customers wouldn't work. Nintendo bounced back from the failure of Wii U so triumphantly that they're now the envy of the whole industry, not to mention the most valuable company on the Tokyo Stock Exchange? I mean there's always that chance that the next-gen platform could tank, but I don't see that happening now that they've got everything so dialed-in. So unless PS massively screws up in the future, which doesn't seem likely, the days of Xbox having 50% of the high-end console share in the US is history.
