How Xbox and PlayStation Plan to Duke It Out This Fall
Microsoft and Sony will release dueling consoles. The technology is similar, but their aggressive sales tactics couldn’t be more different.
The PlayStation 5 (left) and Xbox Series X.
Source (from left): Sony; Microsoft
Silicon Valley’s richest titans have tried to conquer the $150 billion video game industry—and so far failed. Last fall, Google introduced what it billed as a console-killing streaming service, Stadia. Apple Inc., meanwhile, has attempted to build a “Netflix for iPhone games” with its $5-per-month, all-you-can-play Arcade. Amazon.com Inc. has been investing in gaming, too, for more than six years, only to see its initial PC and console offerings flop.
When the video game story of 2020 is written, it will look very much as it has for the past two decades: Redmond, Wash., vs. Tokyo, as Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox and Sony Corp.’s PlayStation battle it out again.