In 2019, Google announced that the future of video games would not be on a console. The American giant launched its Cloud Gaming service with Stadia. Less than four years later, in January 2023, the service closed after a monumental flop. Clearly, gamers were not ready to give up their physical media and their video game consoles.
But after a global pandemic and an industry that is evolving very quickly, we think that Google was perhaps a little too early. Today, Cloud Gaming is starting to take up a lot of space and is shaping the future of video games for the coming years. Especially with Microsoft pushing its Xbox Game Pass and its philosophy of being able to play "anywhere" even without Xbox consoles.
For its part, Sony is more cautious. Although recently, Cloud Gaming has arrived on the PlayStation Portal, the Japanese firm confirms that its future will be in video game consoles.
Sony is targeting the PS6 and not Cloud Gaming
A few hours ago, PlayStation CEO Hideaki Nishino gave an interview to the Japanese magazine Famitsu, in which he discussed the PS6 for the first time, explaining that Sony's goal was not to rush or delay the release of their next console based on the PS5 and PS5 Pro. In any case, Nishino made it clear to us that production of the next PlayStation was well underway.
It was in this same interview that the CEO of the Japanese firm once again insisted on the fact that the future of PlayStation would be in video game consoles. Although Sony is interested in touching on all areas, including Cloud Gaming with the arrival of the feature on PlayStation Portal, Sony intends to stay in its favorite field: video game consoles.
During the interview, Hideaki Nishino said: "A lot of PS4 games are played, and the number of PS5 games is increasing rapidly", before continuing: "Some people may not understand what I'm saying, but if you have access to PS5 games via the cloud on PS Portal, [they] might think that we have already entered the era of cloud gaming. However, you still need a controller and a screen in your hands, and we think that hardware is here to stay."
Good news for PlayStation fans, but also for gamers who are attached to physical consoles. Hopefully, if hardware is here to stay, the same will be true for physical games. Because, after all, there is little point in having a games console if it is only to play digital games.
As a reminder, Sony has launched at the end of last year its PS5 Pro, an “All-Digital” console, sold at the high price of 799 euros, without a disc reader (which must be purchased separately). According to feedback from many resellers, Sony did not distribute enough removable readers, preventing players from purchasing this accessory for their PS5 Pro. Thus pushing players to favor the purchase of digital games, rather than physical games.
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