Things Are Looking Worse For The Series X
There are only a few months left before the expected releases of both the PlayStation 5 and the Xbox Series X. While the anticipation is reaching a fever pitch for both of these new consoles, it has been unclear just how much of a demand there will be for either system. However, a recent survey may tell us all we need to know about who will win the next console war. To put it lightly, things aren't looking all that great for the Xbox Series X.
According to MCV, a survey concerning next-gen gaming was conducted by pop culture marketing group Experience12. Over 3,000 fans of London's MCM Comic Con participated in the survey, answering a wide variety of questions about which next-gen console they were most excited for.
The answer was the PlayStation 5 in a landslide. 84% of the people surveyed said that they wanted the PlayStation 5, while a paltry 14% expressed an early preference for the Xbox Series X. That's a ratio of nearly 6:1 in favor of the PS5, which doesn't bode well for the Series X.
It's interesting to note that the survey also asked people which video games they are most excited for. While there were some high profile games that made the list, it's worth noting that many of them weren't necessarily next-gen titles. For example, the number one most anticipated game in the survey was CD Projekt's Cyberpunk 2077. That's totally an understandable and much-hyped choice, but it's also not exclusively a next-gen game. Cyberpunk 2077 will be a cross-generational title, since it will also be available for the Xbox One and the PlayStation 4. Likewise, the second most anticipated game was Marvel's Avengers, which is due out next month, while the third most anticipated game was the HD remaster of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2.
While Pro Skater is obviously an exciting title for folks with a lot of nostalgia attached to the series, it's definitely surprising to see it rank above upcoming next-gen titles. In other words, a good amount of the survey results may be based more on brand name recognition than anything else. What this may mean for the actual sales success of the PS5 versus that of the Xbox Series X is unclear.
It should be mentioned that the survey doesn't appear to indicate how into gaming the participants were, but that probably doesn't hurt the results as much as one might think. As pointed out by Tom's Guide, "Statistically speaking, surveys with more than 1,000 respondents tend to be both reliable and indicative of what the general population thinks." In other words, the methodology used here should make the results of the survey pretty accurate.
According to the survey, PlayStation currently has a stranglehold on the current generation of gaming. When asked name their favorite current console, 59% of responses indicated that the PlayStation 4 was their preferred platform. Only 16% of the people surveyed preferred the Xbox One, while the remaining percentage was taken up by PC and Switch fans.
The data from this survey would seem to back up a lot of what we've seen from social media in recent weeks, as well. The reactions to last month's Xbox Games Showcase were lukewarm, at best. The games displayed didn't seem to be as graphically impressive as the ones seen during PlayStation's Future of Gaming event. When it was revealed that the demo for the Series X's flagship game, Halo Infinite, was actually played on a PC, it sure seemed to send a message that Xbox doesn't particularly care if you buy a Series X.
However, just because people were more excited about the PS5 doesn't necessarily mean that it will translate to massive sales numbers. Only 37% of the people surveyed were actually interested in buying a console on launch day. Others are presumably waiting for a price point to be revealed for either console. As with the console wars of previous generations, price may end up being the deciding factor for many people.
There's always the chance that consumers respond differently than this survey would imply. However, we have also recently seen data from market analysts that predict some unimpressive sales figures for the Xbox Series X. According to Ampere Analysis (via Game Rant), the Xbox Series X may sell a million fewer units than the PlayStation 5 in 2020. We'll just have to wait and see how accurate all of this survey and market research really was when both the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 arrive this holiday season.