The next-generation of home consoles aren't due to launch until November, but various industry analysts, surveys, and polls are already giving the edge to Sony's PlayStation 5.
Despite the fact that Microsoft just revealed the Xbox Series S for the incredibly reasonable price of £250, one analytics firm still believes that the PS5 will come out on top. New research published by UK based firm Ampere Analysis suggests that Sony's next-gen console will sell more than the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S combined. That's a bold claim, given that we have no idea how much the PS5 will event cost yet.
Ampere's Head of Games Research, Piers Harding-Rolls, has developed a study that compares and assesses the market potential of both the PS5 and Xbox Series consoles. Back in June, he predicted that the PS5 would outsell the Series X by almost 2:1 over the course of the generation. Now that he's factored in the Series S too? Not that much changes, actually.
As you can see from the chart above, while the Series S lower price point drives up overall sales of the Xbox Series consoles, the PS5 still "far outsells" both of Microsoft's next-gen offerings combined. The analyst believes that the PS5 will claim an advantage over the Xbox Series X/S due to the numerous PlayStation exclusives that have already been announced, as well as "global brand allegiance" built up during the PS4 era.
Price remains a vital factor, however, and until we know for sure how much the PS5 is going to cost, we can't really know for sure which company will come out on top. With Microsoft offering the Xbox Series X and Series S at £449 and £250 respectively, all Sony needs to do is stumble with a much higher price point to put people off... especially with Microsoft offering a monthly payment plan for either console that includes Game Pass Ultimate. That'll be a very attractive proposition for parents in the run-up to Christmas.
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Of course, it really doesn't matter which console "wins" as far as the consumers are concerned. While I'm sure both Microsoft and Sony would like their hardware to be the most popular, as long as we have access to great games at prices that aren't completely bankrupting us, we should all be able to get along... right?
Featured Image Credit: Microsoft/SonyTopics: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S
