When the Xbox Series S launched, many people worried that its less powerful hardware would put the PlayStation 5 at a disadvantage.
Many observers believed Microsoft had a winning strategy: offering cheaper, new gaming hardware to attract customers, combined with the incredibly popular Game Pass subscription service, would likely lead them to dominate the console market.
Things didn’t quite turn out as expected. The Xbox Series S had strong initial sales, particularly when it was difficult to find consoles during the pandemic. However, many game developers found it wasn’t powerful enough. This has led to delays for big multi-platform games like Baldur’s Gate 3 and Black Myth: Wukong, effectively making them PlayStation 5 exclusives for a period of time.
Things are further complicated by the current economy, which has caused the price of the Xbox Series S to increase since its initial release. It now costs $399.99, up from its original price of $299.99.
Although the price of the PlayStation 5 has gone up, Sony is offering Black Friday deals to encourage more sales during the holidays.
Right now, you can get a PlayStation 5 Slim for $399.99. It’s much more powerful than the Xbox Series S and has almost twice the storage. To get similar storage to the PS5 Slim’s 825GB, you’d need to spend $449.99 on an Xbox Series S.
Xbox hasn’t revealed any special offers on consoles or accessories for the holidays, which makes their situation seem less competitive when compared to others.
This highlights a shift in focus for the console makers. Sony remains focused on attracting more players to its platform, but Microsoft, now releasing many of its games on multiple platforms, seems more concerned with maximizing profits.
Things could get even more challenging for Xbox: recent reports suggest they might have to raise prices again because the cost of RAM is still going up. Meanwhile, Sony seems to be in a better position, as they’ve reportedly stocked up on inventory and aren’t facing immediate price increases.
The Xbox Series X, which has similar performance to the PlayStation 5, is currently priced at $649.99. For Black Friday, Sony is offering a PS5 with a Blu-ray disc drive for $449.99 – a savings of $200.
Could any of you have predicted this outcome at the start of the generation?
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2025-11-25 14:07