What should Sony do for the next Playstation?

[EricHiggin]

Otter said:

EricHiggin said:

A subscription pay as you go hardware model won't work. I can tell you right now, none of my gaming friends would sign up for that. Most already don't like PS Plus, at least ever since SNY added tiers and kept jacking up the prices based on 'added value'. Paying for it in full once a year was borderline as it was, and that's for a digital service. Most my friends only pay it to be able to play online. They don't even care about anything else Plus offers. I and a few friends have cancelled our Plus subs this year. I've been signed up every year since about 2012. XB has been trying this for a while and it hasn't been working for them either. 

SNY should be able to shave $100 off the PS6 Handheld with a PS6 Lite console, but that's at cost to manufacture. SNY should then subsidize the PS6 Lite by $50-$100. This way you end up with something like a $399 PS6 Lite and a $599 PS6 Handheld.

Either that, or subsidize the handheld $100 so it's $499 and don't bother with the PS6 Lite at that point if SNY doesn't want to. Problem with this, is that all those PS4 gamers didn't upgrade to PS5 at $499, so what makes SNY think they'll upgrade to a PS6 Handheld for $499? How many potential new consumers could SNY attract with a $399 PS6 Lite instead?

Nothing is making any profit at $499, so subsidising it even further seems unlikely imo. This device has twice the ram and more advanced features than the Switch 2, it doesn't make sense to think it could exist at $399 in this economy. Worth noting when consoles were subsidized heavily in the past it was with the knowledge costs would fall significantly within across the generation. There is no prospect of that right now, so subsidisation would be minimal, not $200 worth imo.

As far as your friends (who already owns PS5s I presume?), that simply is not market enough evidence to say it can't work lol, I'm sorry. They already hate PS+ and tiers but the tiers are working and adding value to Sonys service revenue. They are just not the target market. Many different demographics are out there and Sony diversifying their model is intended to reach them through different means. A $199 upfront console and $29 sub with some perks would definitely appeal to some people.

Personally I always thought it was crazy that people would buy their phones outright and spend $800+ in one fell swoop. Others think it's crazy people go on these $50 contracts for 24months... Each to their own.

Now Sony will have more insight than either of us in what could work, I'm not wedded to the idea but when they say they're thinking their business model I think it's clearly implying more fundamentally about how they monitise and reach consumers.

"We would like to think about various simulations, including changing business models to come up with the best solution and strategy.” 

In-game ads are also a thing that's come to mind

The reality of the console market right now is that drastic measures need to be taken to make them accessible, but none of the parties have shown a willingness to sell hardware at a significant loss, so we shouldn't expect that going forward.

Nin always likes to make a decent profit from their hardware, so comparing directly to SW2 doesn't really work.

SNY was losing around $30 on each PS5 Disc Edition and around $100 on each Digital Edition at launch. If SNY breaks even or makes a small profit on each PS6 Handheld, while losing $100 on each PS6 Lite, then they would be losing less next gen and would better off than they were with PS5 at launch.

Both of those are crazy. I and most people I know buy a $300-$400 phone in one fell swoop every 4-5 years. Few I know spend huge money or go on contract.

In game ads? Might as well market the PS6 as a TV box like MS did the XB1 in that case. Both are terrible idea's for a game console.

MS won't sell XBS at a loss because they aren't a hardcore console company and mostly care about profits overall. SNY hasn't sold PS5 at a loss for years now simply because they have the momentum and MS had seemingly given up competing.

*My friends are all on PS4 still, except for one who bought a used PS5. I also know others who I wouldn't consider friends who are also on PS4, or older gens who want to upgrade but won't spend that much money to buy something like a PS5 or XBSX now. Some of my friends are seriously considering buying an XBSS due to it being somewhat affordable, and they've always had SNY consoles since PS1 or PS2. The point is that if SNY doesn't launch something cheap enough that can be a 1 time purchase then they're going to lose a bunch of long time customers and lose out on potential future customers. That kind of business model where SNY leaves those kind of consumers behind, is one where everything just keeps getting more expensive and existing PS gamers just keep getting monetized more and more.

Last edited by EricHiggin - 5 days ago