After the release of the Xbox Series X|S, Microsoft quietly and secretly said goodbye to the last-gen consoles – and is thus pursuing a completely different strategy compared to its big competitor PlayStation.
Microsoft closed out the previous generation of consoles with little fuss. As the company announced in a statement, Xbox One consoles will no longer be manufactured – neither the original Xbox One (digital or with disc drive) nor the improved Xbox One X. In contrast, it was announced this week that Sony will still be sticking with the PS4.
Xbox: full focus on next-gen
With the Xbox Series X|S, Microsoft has cemented its place in the console industry after the previous generation couldn’t keep up with the competition. No wonder then that the production of the Xbox One did not continue longer than necessary: In an official statement to The Verge magazine, Microsoft confirmed that the production of the Xbox One consoles had already ended at the end of 2020. (Source: The Verge)
The decision to make a fresh start with the next-gen consoles has been made so far profitable for Xbox despite the shortage of consoles: The Xbox Series X|S has outsold all previous Xbox consoles at this point and has already sold around 12 million copies, according to industry insiders.
PS4 & PS5: Sony continues on two tracks
In contrast to Microsoft, Sony wants to deal with the semiconductor crisis and the shortage of resources differently and, according to a recent report, is continuing production of the PS4 – although a production stop was originally planned. Because the PlayStation 5 is still only available to a very limited extent, it should their predecessor at least temporarily provide some relief. Due to the huge success of the console, such a lap of honor for the PS4 is much easier to justify overall than with the Xbox One, which has been weakening for years.
Whether Xbox or PS5: In the video we show you eight games that will hopefully be released this year:
Microsoft has said goodbye to the Xbox One – the last-gen console will no longer be manufactured, instead all resources will be devoted to the Xbox Series X|S. Interestingly, Sony is pursuing an opposite strategy in comparison and continues to build on the PS4.