PS5 e Xbox Series X for the third consecutive Christmas they are still hard to find in stores, with numerous users who will basically remain dry-mouthed this year as well. The increase in production and stocks were not enough to satisfy market demand, with the real “next-gen” (a term that sounds inadequate two years after its launch) still struggling to get going and we lived another year dominated by productions cross-gen and Nintendo Switch titles.
Just think, for example, of the candidates for Multiplayer.it’s “Game of the Year 2022” award. Out of 13 games, only A Plague Tale: Requiem is a title for current generation consoles (and Switch via cloud), the rest are multiplatform like God of War: Ragnarok and Elden Ring or precisely productions for Nintendo Switch, which demonstrates again how power isn’t everything and that it’s still early to retire him.
There would have been a period characterized by “adjustment” cross-gen productions regardless, as also happened with the transition from PS3 and Xbox 360 to PS4 and One, but evidently its times are lengthening also due to production problems ( the crisis of semiconductors and other raw materials is not over yet). This is clearly not the only reason, for example there are also titles that arrived late or are late due to the lockdowns that took place during the pandemic. However it is clear that publishers who in an uncertain market situation necessarily have to play it safethen targeting the installed base of 100-plus million consoles between PS4 and Xbox One.
In this way no one is excluded, but it is also true that those who own PS5 and Xbox Series X who have reached the third year of the life cycle of the two consoles would like to see something truly “next-gen”. In 2023, barring unforeseen events, they will be partially satisfied: Star Wars Jedi Survivors, Final Fantasy 16, Starfield, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 are just some of the productions arriving only on modern platforms. But at the same time there will also be cross-gen titles, some highly anticipated, such as Resident Evil 4 Remake, Diablo 4 and Hogwarts Legacy, just to name a few.
Xbox Series X e PS5
As mentioned at the beginning, fortunately the production of PS5 and Xbox Series X has increased during the year and this is demonstrated by the greater number of stocks of the two consoles that have appeared in stores and the trend should continue in 2023 as well. However, we are still a long way from an optimal situation and consequently PS4 and Xbox One will have to make another, yet another, effort. In 2023 both will complete 10 years of honorable career: it would also be time to finally retire them.
In all of this Xbox Series S, which basically represents an economic middle ground that allows access to the catalog of Game Pass and current generation titles, and it is no coincidence that the console was pushed by Microsoft with aggressive offers during Black Friday and the pre-Christmas period. But will it be able to keep up with PS5 and Xbox Series X in the coming years?
And what do you think? Were you able to buy PS5 and/or Xbox Series X? And if not, are you playing the latest on PS4 and Xbox One or have you decided to postpone them until you finally get your hands on a current-generation console?
Let’s talk about it is a daily opinion column that offers a starting point for discussion around the news of the day, a small editorial written by a member of the editorial staff but which is not necessarily representative of the editorial line of Multiplayer.it.
