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Xbox Series and PlayStation 5 show two different paths for the future of consoles

Consoles are changing. Microsoft and Sony are both releasing next-generation offerings in November, and as you’d expect the main selling point is the power they’ll bring to the table: 4K is an advertised benchmark, ray-tracing will be supported, and more generally, everything will look prettier and run more smoothly

– at least until the consoles start to grow long in the tooth.

But Sony and Microsoft are diverging in significant ways when it comes to their approaches to what next-gen means in 2020. At the time of writing, Sony is releasing one SKU, simply called the PlayStation 5, and the pitch isn’t wildly different from the pitch that accompanied PS4: prettier games, first-party exclusives. This time a yet-to-be-specified degree of backwards compatibility will be supported with its predecessor, but Sony’s focus is very much on why you buy a new console in the first place: it’ll have games you can’t play elsewhere. These include a new Spider-man game, the sequel to Horizon Zero Dawn, and a remake of cult classic Demon’s Souls, among others.

Microsoft’s approach is different. It’s releasing two consoles: one of these, the Xbox Series S, boasts less impressive hardware but is still ‘next-gen’ – it’ll cost $500 in Australia. Meanwhile the Xbox Series X is $750, and offers the true next-gen experience.

The hardware is important, of course, but Microsoft is banking on drawing people into its subscription ecosystem. Xbox Game Pass offers over 100 games for around $10 a month, ranging from blockbuster titles through to small indies. Meanwhile, Microsoft offers full backwards compatibility with Xbox One – no caveats – and a contract system which lets you pay off your console in monthly instalments, operated by Telstra in Australia.

But can Microsoft survive without big games? Halo Infinite was meant to launch alongside the new generation, but was delayed into 2021 due to a poorly received gameplay premiere in August. Of course, it owns Minecraft – but Minecraft is on PS4 and PC. Of course, it owns Forza – but the next Forza game won’t be out for a while, and again, it’s coming to PC too. Of course, Microsoft has been on a studio acquisition spree, with the likes of Obsidian and Inxile now under the Redwood company’s umbrella. But new games from either of these are a long way off.

Microsoft’s strategy makes PC gamers happy: they get most, if not all, of Xbox’s exclusives. Sony is starting to release its first-party games on PC (Horizon Zero Dawn released on Steam in July), but there’s no way in hell its launch window exclusives will release in concert with any theoretical PC port. Microsoft wants an Applestyle iterative approach to hardware roll-out, with a Netflix-style subscription service as its core feature. Sony seems to want business as usual.

Both are strong strategies for a variety of reasons, and it’s harder to tell who will “win” this generation than it was in the lead up to Xbox One and PS4’s launches (Microsoft seemed to have no hope). But Microsoft’s approach is worrying developers. Having to factor in the low base Xbox Series S console has elicited criticism from devs ranging Remedy Entertainment (Alan Wake) through to Flavourworks (Erica). Not to mention the droves of fans and commentators worried that Series S compatibility will hold the generation back in its entirety. Microsoft took a gamble last gen, and it didn’t work out for them. They’re doing it again in 2020, and while it’s definitely a lot more sensible, it could very well blow up in their face.