When it comes to my feelings on Sony’s PS5 Pro, I have mixed feelings. I want one, but I also can’t do the financial calculation to justify buying one, though I think I’d save a ton of brain power if I gritted my teeth and carried on. Regardless of what I do, a lot of people will buy a PS5 Pro, and I expect a large portion of those people will likely be Xbox Series X owners who are looking for the most powerful console on the market. If Xbox doesn’t release an Xbox One X equivalent for this generation, tech-hungry Xbox fans will be left with only one option: give up on Xbox.
In 2017, I changed my mind. After Xbox made the mistake with the Xbox One, I was 100% committed to the PS4 as my primary platform. The PS4 Pro is great, but as someone who wants the best of everything, I bought an Xbox One X and have never looked back. Game Pass was just starting to take off, and Xbox (just like it was in the Xbox 360 days) quickly became my platform of choice. I play almost all of my games on the Xbox One X, so my digital library has swelled. I saw no reason to change that when the Xbox Series X was theoretically the most powerful console, but now I do. Others will think so, too.
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If I want the best gaming experience until the next generation of consoles comes out, my only choice is the PS5 Pro.
While many people might think Xbox doesn’t care about people leaving its ecosystem, it does. Someone who invests in an Xbox and buys games for an Xbox console is more profitable than a PS5 owner who buys the same games. Add to that the potential for monthly Game Pass subscriptions, and Xbox has a big reason to keep its audience on its platform. If I were to switch to a PlayStation now with a PS5 Pro and build my library there for the next three or four years or so, would I go back to an Xbox? Given the current situation, I’m not sure.
Sony didn’t need a PS5 Pro, but making one is another blow to Xbox. In my opinion, Game Pass and console performance are two big reasons to stick with Xbox, even if Xbox exclusives are coming to other platforms. In my opinion, Xbox is inextricably linked to performance advantages, in large part because Xbox has done that for most of its time on the market. With that gone, even Game Pass starts to look less attractive, and it will be interesting to see how Xbox games on PlayStation perform on PS5 Pro. Raiders of the Lost Ark was part of my Game Pass Ultimate subscription this December, but if the game performs significantly better on the PS5 Pro, then my resolve will be tested and my subscription will start to look less important.
That’s the problem facing Xbox, and I think there’s only one way to stem the exodus of gamers: if the next Xbox is coming, tell us. There’s a growing consensus that the next Xbox console will be released a little earlier, perhaps even as late as 2026. That could be another two years away, but if I’d known it would take that long for the Xbox 6 or any other product to launch, I think I’d have waited and made do with the PS5 and Series X. I also don’t think announcing a new console two years after launch would have much of an impact on console sales. I don’t think the average person buying a console four years out will consider much more than what’s in front of them, and let’s face it, there’s going to be a pretty long period after 2026 where games will span two generations – there will be new PS4 and Xbox One games coming out in 2025, 12 years after those consoles launched!
Honestly, I would have preferred an interim console from Xbox to compete with the PS5 Pro, with the next generation coming in 2028 or later, but since that’s not going to happen, I need Xbox to provide a reason to stay with Xbox while Sony dominates the console performance space. It can say whatever old bullshit it wants and I’ll probably take it. I’m currently a Team Xbox consumer and just need a decoy to keep it that way.