PS5 vs Switch 2 vs Xbox : The Year in Review

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What a year for gaming! We saw a small, relatively unknown team make a huge splash with their debut game, Clair Obscur. Plus, long-awaited sequels like Metal Gear Solid and a new Silent Hill game (after over ten years!) both delivered. Hideo Kojima released another critically acclaimed title, Death Stranding 2, and Donkey Kong made a triumphant return. To top it all off, Silksong finally launched and was a hit, and Metroid Prime 4 also became a reality this year!

Considering all the positive things that happened, it feels wrong to criticize video games. However, despite some truly fantastic games this year, there were also some disappointing moments – and those were caused by the companies responsible for running the industry.

Despite the gaming industry’s current success, 2025 may be remembered as the year consoles—once the defining feature of gaming—started to struggle. Throughout the year, Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft all made questionable choices that made it difficult to support them, and their decisions often felt confusing and detrimental.

Let’s be clear: if we’re looking for a “winner” this year, the only platform we can confidently highlight is Valve and Steam. They’ve consistently remained popular with gamers and took some significant risks, putting them in stronger competition with other platforms than ever before. Their new hardware announcements generated a lot of buzz. While Steam isn’t perfect – content moderation is still a challenge – they’re the only platform holder that truly stood out this year without any major drawbacks.

Now let’s talk about the companies that make the consoles. We’ll be focusing on three of them, but honestly, let’s be upfront: we can eliminate Microsoft from consideration right away.

Xbox is facing a critical moment, and 2025 could determine its future in the gaming industry. Microsoft has significantly changed its strategy by allowing its games to be released on competing platforms like PlayStation 5. This includes major franchises like Halo, Gears, and Forza – games that have always defined the Xbox experience. The announcement that Halo will now be available on PlayStation felt unusual, similar to when Sonic the Hedgehog appeared on Nintendo consoles after Sega stopped making its own hardware.

It was widely anticipated that Microsoft would continue to emphasize that Xbox games don’t require Xbox consoles to play, and this has now come to pass. As a result, Xbox console sales, already declining, have dropped dramatically this year. In many regions, the Xbox is being outsold not only by the aging Nintendo Switch (and its recently released successor), but also by specialized VR and PC handheld devices.

Some stores around the world even considered stopping sales of Xbox consoles altogether – a drastic step usually reserved for products that aren’t selling well at all, like the Dreamcast or Wii U. That illustrates just how much trouble Microsoft had with the Xbox this year.

It’s frustrating because things didn’t need to end this way. After years of building excitement for their games and services like Game Pass, this year was actually looking great for Microsoft. Their internal studios released several popular and well-received games, and Game Pass had some of the most anticipated titles, like Clair Obscur and Silksong, available on launch day. However, despite all this success, Microsoft also raised prices on both hardware and services, and even tried to increase game prices. This just highlights the disconnect between their excellent games and their questionable business choices.

Now that Microsoft’s out of the picture, it’s a much tighter race between Sony and Nintendo. As a fan, I was really surprised to see how well the PS5 did this year – it actually sold better than it did in 2024! And honestly, it’s even more impressive considering Sony decided to raise the price of the console again worldwide. There were a few exceptions – thankfully, prices stayed the same in the US, and Japan got a cheaper version only available there – but five years in, it’s frustrating to see the PS5 getting more expensive instead of cheaper like you’d expect.

Sony didn’t just raise the price of the PlayStation console this year. PS Plus subscription costs also went up in countries like Canada and Australia. Some fans were also worried by Sony’s choice to release the game Helldivers 2 on Xbox, a competitor’s platform.

Throughout the year, Sony and PlayStation faced a series of minor issues. These included games not running well on the PS5 Pro, unclear communication about the release of the PS6 which frustrated fans, and State of Play events that didn’t meet expectations. Really, the only consistent success for Sony and PlayStation this year was the quality of the games themselves.

Sony consistently excels in delivering high-quality exclusive games, and they continued that success this year with two major releases for the PlayStation 5: Death Stranding 2 and Ghost of Yotei. Both games have been praised by critics, are selling well, and are already receiving awards recognition.

In addition to these new releases, PlayStation continued to support its existing games – like Astro Bot, Gran Turismo 7, and Helldivers 2 – with excellent post-launch updates. The PS5 also remained the best place to play many games, with PlayStation versions of most third-party titles generally running better than on competing consoles. Similar to the situation with Xbox, the quality of the games themselves wasn’t the main issue; instead, criticism focused on other aspects of the PlayStation experience.

A recurring idea throughout this discussion also applies to Nintendo. Despite a highly anticipated year – marked by the release of the Nintendo Switch 2 – they faced challenges. Several decisions proved unpopular with fans, including being the first to price new games at $80 with Mario Kart World, following Sony’s approach to paid upgrades for different console generations, consistently high prices for both the console itself and its accessories, and controversial policies regarding downloadable content.

Look, when it comes to games, Nintendo usually knocks it out of the park. But 2025? It was…okay. Honestly, it felt a little weak for them, especially considering how amazing their games usually are. They released a bunch – Mario Kart World, Donkey Kong Bananza, Pokemon Legends ZA, Hyrule Warriors, Kirby Air Riders, Metroid Prime 4 – but aside from Bananza, which is seriously a contender for game of the year, everything else either fell flat or really split people’s opinions. It just wasn’t their typical stellar year.

Despite a few missteps, Nintendo still had a stronger year than Microsoft and Sony. They released more games overall, and their top-rated title outperformed anything from those two companies. However, this year’s results are surprisingly weak for a company known for consistently delivering popular games. It’s important to note that titles like Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour and Drag X Drive were critically panned and rank among Nintendo’s lowest-rated games.

The Switch 2 really stood out with its support from third-party game developers. Nintendo worked hard to improve relationships with these developers during the original Switch’s lifespan, and the Switch 2’s more powerful hardware, combined with recent difficulties for Xbox, made it likely that support would continue. Despite this, Nintendo made some strange choices, like delaying access to development tools and sometimes not even announcing Switch 2 versions of games made by these partners.

Despite concerns about the Switch’s aging hardware, third-party developers really stepped up this year. Several publishers have signaled they’re planning to release games on the upcoming Switch 2, and the announcement of Resident Evil Requiem launching simultaneously on both Switch and Switch 2 is a huge vote of confidence. Beyond that, the Switch continued to be a haven for independent games, with highly anticipated titles like Silksong and Hades 2 (which will be exclusive to Switch and Switch 2 on consoles) leading the way.

As a Nintendo fan, I’ve been following all the drama this year, and honestly, they made some choices that really rubbed people the wrong way. But what’s amazing is that it didn’t seem to hurt them at all! In fact, things actually sped up. Despite a shorter marketing push and a lot of criticism from fans like me, the Switch 2 absolutely smashed every sales record possible. It sold 3.5 million units in just three days – something no console has ever done – and over 10 million in four months! That’s a sales rate that blows everything else out of the water.

What’s particularly remarkable is that the Switch 2 achieved these sales numbers despite not having many blockbuster games at launch. While it had Mario Kart and Pokemon Legends, both received criticism from fans, and none of the other released titles were huge successes. This is significant because Nintendo’s biggest hits – new Mario, Zelda, Animal Crossing, and mainline Pokemon games – are still on the way, yet sales are already this strong. This suggests Nintendo managed the transition to a new console generation very effectively, building a loyal player base willing to buy the hardware based on trust in future game releases – a strategy similar to PlayStation’s.

Considering how well the Switch 2 is selling and that Nintendo has a stronger game selection than PlayStation and Xbox (though not as strong as their previous consoles), I’d say Nintendo is the biggest winner of 2025. However, I’m not thrilled about this outcome and am only acknowledging their success reluctantly.

This year, the business choices made by these companies were concerningly unfair and harmful. While their actions were bad, the competition wasn’t much better. It feels cliché to say so, but this year’s events really show that there were no winners – everyone lost. Nintendo might have come out on top in the console market, but they upset a lot of people in the process, just like Microsoft and Sony did.

Looking ahead to 2026 and beyond, we can only hope console makers don’t prioritize profits over everything else. With one major player potentially leaving the market, and the current challenges in getting hardware parts, it’s likely things could actually get more difficult for gamers.

The opinions shared in this article are the author’s own and don’t reflect the official stance of GamingBolt.

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2025-12-16 21:44