It is unfair to say that video games were in a precarious place heading into its next generation of console hardware. Video games are, in many ways, having their biggest year ever. Franchises like Assassin’s Creed, Call of Duty, Grand Theft Auto, and Battlefield are marquee names in entertainment, with sales numbers that would make any analyst salivate. Games like The Last of Us proved that even if you didn’t have a supporting fanbase racing to your aide, you could still rack up impressive sales numbers. Games like Gone Home showed how an indie darling, with limited budget, could be a roaring success. Video games were as strong as ever in the waning years of the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.
Video games may have been fine from a financial standpoint, but it is hard to deny there were problems with the industry that could be attributed to a long console generation. With the consistent sales of smart phones and tablets, there was skepticism if consumers still had room in their budget for expensive consoles. Also, while publishers like Activision, EA, and Ubisoft cashed in on lucrative franchises, dozens of mid-market publishers and studios were closing their doors. Mainstream media tended to portray video games as tools for learning mass murder, rather than tools for expression and entertainment. As the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One approached the starting point of their lifecycle, the question was not whether video games were going to survive, but was the console still big enough to capture the world’s attention?
Developers and publishers alike were lamenting the long life of the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, claiming that it killed new properties and hindered development cycles. Consoles sales, and sales in general, continues to dip each year as the cycle continued. Developers began to seek independent revenue from iOS development and PC clients like Steam. The Nintendo Wii U suffered through a terrible year, with massive droughts in games resulting in an equally painful drought in sales. It was not to save the life of gaming, but to establish dominance in an ever-expanding industry, that the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 needed to be hits. Luckily, the consoles delivered.
After announcements in the late winter and spring of this year, the next generation became a reality. Following E3, preorders for the new consoles encouraged publishers and developers that the interest remained. Impressive new IP began to pop up, with titles like Titanfall and Destiny leading the exciting charge forward. Mainstream media began to turn their attention toward these new machines, intrigued by the promise of new hardware that could be the center of the living room and entertainment experience. Console gaming seemed to not only be alive and well, but stronger than many had assumed it was. It set the stage for one of the biggest launches video games had ever seen within two weeks of each other. The key players at Microsoft and Sony only had one job left to do in the final weeks before launch: Don’t drop the ball.
Fortunately, for all of the people who were buying their consoles at launch, things went off without a hitch. There were buggy units of course, but nothing that was catastrophic. Sony reported that less than 1% of their consoles were suffering issues, Microsoft is sending out new consoles as soon as problems are reported, drastically reducing the time to get issues resolved and are giving out a free game for the trouble. Sony and Microsoft have combined to sell over 2 million units worldwide, and Sony hasn’t even launched in Europe. Even better for Microsoft and Sony, is the anticipation of moving more units by the end of March 2014, as both companies expect to have 5 million consoles out in the market. With over 10 million units in the wild, third parties developers are likely to be more inspired to support the new consoles with games.
How did Microsoft and Sony get here? Well, they took their lumps and felt the pressure of a consumer base that threatened to pass them by. Sony has been playing catch up ever since the launch of the PlayStation 3 and talking to developers about ways to improve the PlayStation. Sony saw the damage a bad launch could do and have been working to make amends ever since. Meanwhile, Microsoft’s wounds are much more fresh. Suffering a nasty response to their E3 press conference, Microsoft was quick to recover and make amends with their fan base, eliminating the lack of used games and always-online requirement.
As we arrived at the launch of the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One, the video game industry feels different, for the first time in a while, it feels exciting. There are still countless issues that plague video games, social issues, financial issues, and the future is still uncertain as ever. What is inspiring is to see companies like Sony and Microsoft realize that while the mainstream media may turn on games at the drop of a hat, there are people who will skip work and line up at midnight no matter what. The core fans of the console gaming world are who Sony and Microsoft found roots in while promoting their consoles, and the groundswell of these fans are what will drive the hardware forward.
The public outreach, the face of the company, has been where Sony and Microsoft have grown over the last year. While the hardware is what is physically exchanged between retailers and customers, it is the names and brands that are actually being bought and sold. People want to invest in companies they trust and who will support them when they get faulty products. Companies like Amazon have risen to prominence because when trouble arises they make things right on the first attempt. Once upon a time, companies could dictate to the public, but those days are over. With so many different ways to spend time and money, people are no longer looking for things to do, they are flooded by them.
I am sure if you talked to the teams at either of the companies who launched hardware this month, they would try and explain how much was learned over the last console generation. They would also explain that there is a long way to go. There are millions of consoles to sell over the next few years as a whole new ecosystem finds its way into the market. While the hardware is different, some things will never change. There will still be fanboys who argue about which console is better, people will use Twitch for disgusting purposes, and EA will have rough launch days; but this holiday seasons, I hope the people who bought their consoles get to enjoy the time spent with them. Both companies had fantastic releases, and as we tap into the power of these new machines, who knows what awesome experiences await.
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