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shikamaru317 on 22 July 2023
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Norion said:
JRPGfan said:

Supposedly the Series S, makes up like ~70% of the xbox sales.
Like you said, it would be a hassle to make 3 versions of the game, for the xbox side of things, and the differnce between them in performance would be huge.
Devs would not be happy about that, also you push things 2 years futher into the future, it might be abit late, for the developement cost of new hardware to yeild returns. Ontop of that Xbox has basically said, there will be no Pro versions from them this time around (they view the Xbox series X, as the pro version, and the Series S, as the "normal" console for this gen, from them. They just launched at the same time, instead of mid gen for the pro version). So I suspect there wont be any reaction from xbox side, PS5 pro will just be the most powerfull console, for the rest of the gen, from that point on.

If there is a PS5 Pro I don't see that happening since not only ceding the power advantage but letting them have an outright big advantage in that regard for the 2nd half of the generation would be a significant disadvantage. 

Xbox's hands are kind of tied at this point because they did 2 consoles from the start of the gen. Their options basically are:

  • Force developers to support 3 different Xbox Series spec tiers, S, X, and a new Pro tier. (This would anger a fair few devs, as some of them are already saying that Series S is a burden for them to develop for, if you make them support a 3rd Xbox console they may just decide to drop Xbox support altogether)
  • Drop the requirement that devs make a Series S version of games and then release an Xbox Series Pro system more powerful than PS5 Pro. (This would anger Series S owners, as they were promised a full generation of game support, yet would only be getting that full generation of support from Xbox 1st and 2nd party devs, most 3rd parties would choose to drop Series S if Xbox dropped the requirement that devs support it)
  • Stick with just Series S and Series X, and instead focus on making Xbox Series the pricing king this gen. They could drop Series S down to $250 soon and eventually $200 later this gen. They could drop Series X down to $400 later this year and then $350 next Holiday when PS5 Pro releases (or maybe release a cheaper, digital Series X model for $350 instead), which would make Series X the best price/performance console next Holiday, with specs that are only about 30-35% below PS5 Pro most likely, but priced probably $250 cheaper than PS5 Pro.

It's also worth noting that even if they choose to respond with a Pro console of their own, since one doesn't appear to already be in R&D based on recent Xbox statements, that it would basically take them 2 years from now to R&D and release the console, meaning that it would be releasing a year later than PS5 Pro itself, just like One X vs PS4 Pro. Releasing an Xbox Pro console Holiday 2025 just isn't a great idea, as the next gen Xbox console and PS6 will likely be Holiday 2028 releases, meaning people would be shelling out a likely $600 for a console that would only last the 3 remaining years of this generation and then the cross-gen period at the start of next-gen. They really needed to do a 2024 release for a Pro console, and that just doesn't seem to be in the cards, they'd have to rush through R&D very quickly in order to release a Pro console Holiday 2024 alongside PS5 Pro. 

One thing is for sure, I doubt Xbox will bother with 2 consoles at the start of next gen, it was a novel idea but it just hasn't worked out for them. I suspect they will release just 1 console at the start of next-gen, and then release Slim and Pro consoles middle of next gen. It may even be a good idea for them to go for a 1 year headstart, aim for a Holiday 2027 release since PS6 is likely targeting Holiday 2028. That 1 year headstart could have positive effects for them the entire gen just like it did on Xbox 360. 

Last edited by shikamaru317 - on 22 July 2023