A screenshot from Hogwarts Legacy, the upcoming Harry Potter game
The battle between Xbox and Playstation has begun as prices and sales dates have been announced. It’s a moment that gamers have been waiting for for years. The last time new game consoles from Sony and Microsoft came onto the market was in 2013.
The most expensive and most powerful next-generation versions (next-gen) game consoles, the Playstation 5 and Xbox Series X, will both cost 499 euros. For the first time, cheaper models are also being put on the market that are fully digital and cannot read discs. There is a price difference to be seen there.
The Xbox Series S costs 299 euros and the Playstation 5 Digital Edition has a price tag of 399 euros. That difference is under the hood: where the consoles from Sony are just as powerful, the cheaper Xbox is graphically less capable than its more expensive brother.
Games are getting more expensive
The latest games seem to cost more. That applies at least to some Playstation games. Whether that price increase also applies to Xbox is still unclear. Game publishers have been saying for years that making games is getting more time consuming and expensive.
The PlayStation models will be released in Europe on November 19 and may be available for pre-order today. The Xbox consoles will arrive more than a week earlier, on November 10, and are available for pre-order from next week.
Last night, Sony showed a series of new games in a presentation. For example, the sixteenth part of the popular Final Fantasy series, which has been around for decades, was unveiled. The sequel to the award-winning game God of War was also shown and a new Harry Potter game was presented.
Fight between Sony and Microsoft
Sony has been trying to distinguish itself for years with games that have been made by its own studios and can only be played on Playstation. This year, that includes the new Spider-Man and Demon’s Souls. It has also been announced that a lot of popular Playstation 4 games can be played on the Playstation 5 from the start, provided people have a subscription to Sony’s online service.
With the new Xbox, Microsoft finally wants to step out of the shadow of Sony. More than twice as many copies of the Playstation 4 were sold as of the Xbox One. Microsoft cannot live on many exclusive titles like Sony, but wants to turn the tide by offering a cheaper console and by promoting its Game Pass. That is a growing collection of dozens of games that can be played for a fixed amount per month.
The American company is also praised for making hundreds of games that could be played on older consoles easily available. Playstation is lagging behind in that regard. Microsoft is entering the new generation somewhat damaged by the new Halo part, one of the most popular game series of Xbox, had to be postponed to next year.
