Particularly in the first year or two of a console cycle, there is an expectation that you will see games released for both the old and the new consoles, but in a recent interview with Gameindustry.biz, Sony Interactive Entertainment’s president and CEO, Jim Ryan, stated: “we are thinking that it is time to give the PlayStation community something new, something different, that can really only be enjoyed on PS5” (via The Verge).
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It’s a bold statement when the PS4 install base sits somewhere north of around 100 million users and particularly in light of the rumors that the PS5 will be available in fairly limited quantities at launch, having games that target just a sliver of the PlayStation audience would seem like a questionable decision. Naturally, these will have to be PlayStation Studios exclusive titles, as no 3rd party is going to consider shunting off such a large number of potential buyers. And from that perspective it does make sense, Sony wants buy-in on the PS5 early and what better way to secure that then games that you literally can’t play on anything else. Ryan went on to say, “We have always said that we believe in generations. We believe that when you go to all the trouble of creating a next-gen console, that it should include features and benefits that the previous generation does not include. And that, in our view, people should make games that can make the most of those features.” It’s setting up as another interesting point of contention with Microsoft and the Xbox Series X, which has certainly pushed the power of its next-gen console, but has also stressed how that power can be leveraged to make Xbox One, Xbox 360 and even original Xbox games look and play better than ever. Perhaps one of these true PS5 exclusives will be part of the games showcase event coming up on June 4, but we’ll have to wait until the holiday 2020 launches that both companies assure us are still on target to find out whether Sony’s forward-looking or Microsoft’s nostalgia friendly model proves more popular with gamers.
