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The PS4 dominated the eighth generation of consoles. With more than 90 million units sold, the PS4 is already ranked sixth among the best-selling consoles of all time, slightly above its predecessor, the PS3.
According to an analysis by VGchartz in January, the PS4 has a market share of 58%, compared to 27% for Xbox One and the more recent Nintendo Switch (15). Its sales are so minimal that those of the Xbox One Microsoft continues to refuse to publish the exact sales figures for its console.
The recent revelation of the next PS console asks the question: how will Sony maintain its dominance?
For now, the details of the new console are uneven: we do not even know how it will be called. (Although some may bet their home on the fact that Sony will opt for PS5). Mark Cerny, PlayStation architect at Sony, revealed only what you would expect from a new generation console: improved specifications. But it's the details of these specifications, and how powerful they are, that make Sony's plans for the next generation understandable.
The PS5 is becoming a power station. The Zen 2 eight-core 7nm processor will be based on the AMD Ryzen series. The GPU will be a variant of Radeon's Navi range and will also support ray tracing, an advanced rendering technique available on current gaming laptops using Nvidia's RTX graphics cards. A technique used for years by Hollywood visual effects teams, it attempts to simulate how light bounces off objects, producing impressive graphics.
Cerny also wanted to point out that the PS5 would include a SSD, whose speed will overcome the tropics of long-time games: the loading screens will become a thing of the past. According to Cerny, virtual reality also plays a central role in the console: the current captive PSVR will be compatible with the PS5, although Sony's second VR headset is also wireless. It is possible, although not confirmed, that the output of the latter coincides with the PS5.
The specifications of the processor, says Pelham Smithers, director of market research company Pelham Smithers Associates, specializing in manufacturing in Japan, let us guess the type of processor used by the PS5. According to what Cerny has detailed, it will take a 7-core 7-core Ryzen processor, supporting 8K-compatible ray tracing and running on the AMD Navi 20 graphics processor. This suggests that Sony is using the AMD processor. Ryzen 3600G, presented at CES 2019. According to Smithers, this processor should cost between $ 180 and $ 220 the unit, the ideal amount for a console at $ 399.
The ability of this processor to support 8K and ray tracing, which PC players often disable because it requires a lot of graphics, may well depend on Sony software. "That's important, because the more Sony can use its own IP address to improve the performance of its hardware, the more clear water there is between the" PS5 "and the" Xbox Two, "says Smithers.
We can also deduce some of Sony's future position on server-side streaming. Sony announced that its next console would have a physical medium: it would not be just the download, unlike the announcement, for example, the X-One One S Digital Edition that Microsoft has announced. Server streaming, in the form of Google Stadia, is a significant threat to Sony. "Public game publishers have to pay Sony 30% royalties," says Smithers. "And of course, that also applies to Microsoft and Steam – you can not escape it. Unless Google comes and says, well, how about paying only 10%. "
Another problem for Sony is that Microsoft has considerably more experience in creating networks: that is to say in the cloud. This gives it a huge advantage in creating games where latency can be a problem. "I calculated that Microsoft would have a console exclusively for cloud games and a more traditional console," said Serkan Toto, CEO and founder of Kantan Games.
Sony is therefore likely to focus on its 8K capacity, which requires far too much data for the average consumer to broadcast. (Currently, this represents about 10-12 GB for one hour of 8K footage). Microsoft, which has already replicated claiming that the E3 2019 would contain the announcement of "new things that no one has seen yet", will probably focus on multiplayer games and emphasize that he can run multiplayer games with potential latency issues that Sony could not.
It is important to remember that the hype around the power of the console has surrounded all versions of PlayStation, but the end result is that the PS5 will probably be a graphic monster. "We believe that Sony wants to stand out from the rest of the video game world and become the IMAX of the industry," Smithers said. "Although Microsoft can match Sony on hardware – the PS5 will only use commercially available components – Sony is ahead of the graphics processing."
At least as a result of this news, Sony does not seem to want to appeal to a new group of players. Its demographic appearance should remain roughly the same as that of the current generation: console players, not enough "hardcore" for PCs, but still interested in games heavier and more complex than those who play casual games mainly on their phone.
According to Smithers, for Sony, focusing on this ultra-high-end market should nevertheless result in good sales. "The software market for video games currently stands at about $ 140 billion and could reach $ 180 billion in the next five years. Frankly, if Sony manages to get 4 to 5% of this market, they are doing as they currently do. "
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