The world of video games is increasingly crowded and the number of competitors is increasing year by year. For example, Apple will propose, next autumn, Apple Arcade, a new subscription service that will allow access to an exclusive catalog of “premium” games. Obviously, however, the big name of the moment is Google Stadia, which wants to shake up the industry with a very promising streaming service. Therefore, Sony and Microsoft must prepare for a new “opponent”.
Jim Ryan, the CEO of Sony PlayStation Entertainment, spoke of this in a long interview with CNET. The executive explained that Sony’s next console will be “probably gonna be more interesting than any other we’ve seen in the past. We obviously have one recently announced new entrant into the gaming space [Google] and the possibility of more to come.”
“So, the landscape is changing fast. If we simply kinda lean back on the world that we’ve known for the past 25 years, we’re at grave risk of having events around us overtake us. So, we have to show an open-mindedness and a desire to do things to an extent that we haven’t had to in the past.”
Ryan then gave the example of the “Memorandum of Understanding” (MOU) signed with Microsoft: the MOU is considered as a manifesto of the new approach of Sony and PlayStation; it is based on many areas, but one of the main ones is cloud gaming.
This information is already known, but it is the first time that Sony, so explicitly, says that the MOU is a response to the Mountain View giant and its Google Stadia. Furthermore, Sony and Microsoft are also “warning” other companies, such as Apple and Amazon, that it will not be easy to become a leader in this market.
Ryan has also admitted that Sony is currently not talking enough about PlayStation Now, the video game streaming service available on PS4 and PC, but over the course of the year and those to come, Sony wants to upgrade this part of its proposal. Let us not forget, however, that Microsoft will also be playing its cards with Project xCloud which, according to recent rumors, should be shown at E3 2019 and should be more powerful than Google Stadia.
The main focus of Sony PlayStation, in the near future, will be the physical console market. Each type of transition, it is also stated, will be gradual since according to Ryan various parts of the world are not yet ready to accept a uniquely streaming model. What do you think about it? Tell us in the comments below.
