Microsoft and Sony might prepare other types of devices

Feb 26, 2015 21:11 GMT  ·  By

Both the Xbox One and the PlayStation 4 are now past the one-year mark since launch and have gone through two Christmas shopping seasons, during which they have managed to deliver some impressive performances in terms of units moved to gamers and revenue generated for their creators at Microsoft and Sony.

So this might seem a bad moment to think about the possibility that the current generation of hardware might actually be the final one to use the current format and that we might be moving towards a future where gaming is no longer tied down to a device and most experiences will allow players to move through an ecosystem of hardware while enjoying the same core mechanics.

The two new devices are making efforts to deliver high-profile video games, each with its own program of exclusives, but also fight to draw in indies in order to plug gaps and keep users engaged.

At the same time, Sony and Microsoft are working hard to draw in more entertainment apps, allowing Xbox One and PlayStation 4 users to listen to music and watch TV shows and movies without resorting to their classic TV sets or to mobile phones.

The very fact that the two platforms are aiming to offer everything (well, apart from book reading apps) is a sign that they no longer offer anything unique.

This, coupled with the increased processing power of mobile devices and the way content seems to move after the user, might mean that it is easier for companies to abandon dedicated hardware and move everything to the cloud.

The big problem is the number of video games sold

Despite the very significant sales of the Xbox One and the PlayStation 4, which are above those of their older cousins, all is not right in the video game industry and the biggest problem is that gamers are not getting as many titles as they once did.

The data from the NPD Group shows a tendency for software sales to drop in value year-over-year, which is a bad sign for the future.

It’s unclear whether this trend is linked to the higher price of the Xbox One and the PS4, to the general economic trouble affecting the most important markets, or to the fact that plenty of modern titles can offer more long-term enjoyment than experiences from the previous era.

If a smaller number of titles are selling, in the long-term publishers will probably aim to create experiences that depend less on revenue from stores and more from in-game purchases, which tend to be platform agnostic.

And if such a trend picks up momentum, it will again put pressure on Sony and Microsoft to move away from hardware development and towards creating solutions that allow apps and games to run on whatever platform the user wants.

After all, gaming is not about specific hardware but about experiences and getting the freedom to play on anything will attract more players.

In the end, it is all about business

The general trends of the entertainment business are important, but in the end the decisions about the development and manufacturing of new hardware are all about money.

If Sony and Microsoft make a lot of profit because of the Xbox One and the PlayStation 4, then the two companies will invest in Research & Development in a few years to see what a new generation of consoles can deliver.

The bottom line is that if there’s a way to create platforms that will deliver performance equivalent or better than medium PCs and mobile devices, then consoles will exist for another 10 years or so, otherwise new ways will appear to push gaming forward.