Four years after release the PS5 stands alone atop the high power console market, and feels like just another device.

Four years after launch the PS5 stands alone atop the traditional console market. Ever since Sega’s exit in 2001 there have been three major players in the game console market. Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft. During these last 23 or so years Sony has had the most success, but it hasn’t always been consistent and there was a period during the mid to late 2000s where it was running in third place and playing catch-up. The PS4 changed all that, and now in 2024 we see Nintendo no longer competing on power and focusing on a handheld/console hybrid that has been wildly successful in its own right but focuses almost entirely on indies and Nintendo’s own exclusives, and Microsoft barely even talking about hardware at all and instead emphasizing its game portfolio and how many of them can be played on any platform.

If you want the latest, biggest, releases you’re probably playing on PC or on a PlayStation 5.

So why doesn’t it feel like a bigger deal?

Gaming has changed.

Even setting aside mobile, which is the true big gaming market in 2024, the gaming landscape barely resembles what it did 20 or even 10 years ago. Exclusives, outside the Nintendo bubble, are fewer and further between. Back when Sony had an even greater level of dominance with the PS2 it had an entire library of exclusives, spawning numerous new franchises and cult classics that are still remembered and collected today.

This year Sony put out Helldivers 2, Astro Bot, and then released and unreleased Concord. It has a few other console exclusives like Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth that will almost certainly find their way to other platforms eventually, and Helldivers 2 is already out on PC along with much of Sony’s PS5 era output.

Gaming has changed.

In addition to console exclusives being almost a thing of the past, the period between generations is lasting longer than it ever has before. Sony just put out a PlayStation 5 Pro, to mixed reception, but a lot of players are still playing on the PS4, and, crucially, a lot of big games are still being released on PS4. Games like Metaphor ReFantazio and COD: Black Ops 6 can be played on a machine that is 11 years old at this point. In 2010, when PS3 was 4 years old, going back 11 years would have taken you to the PS1 era. Imagine PS3 games releasing on PS1.

Gaming has changed.

I’m talking about the gaming market in general instead of the PS5 because there’s really not that much to say about the PS5. It’s a console. It has a lot of games, many of them good. It works. It’s selling well and if you don’t want to bother with a PC and want to play modern video games it is the default choice and a good one. The controller is fancy and a few games even try to make use of its fancy features.

But is the PS5 exciting? Not really. Even the Pro model seems to be garnering mixed, mostly lukewarm, reviews. It has some good console exclusives but this year has been relatively dull for that outside of FF7: Rebirth. When PlayStation 1 was demolishing the Saturn it had an incredible library of games you couldn’t play anywhere else. Now PS5 is beating Xbox but if you have an Xbox you can still play almost anything worth playing. I liked Astro Bot a whole lot but it’s hardly set the world on fire sales wise.

Meanwhile Sony doesn’t seem to be reaping the financial rewards of being the industry leader. It’s raised prices in a lot of places and the Pro is extremely expensive, but it also took a bath on Concord and reports have suggested its margins on its PlayStation business are in the mid single digits, which is not great for a business that has a stranglehold on the market. Sony won the console war but the prize seems to be of limited value. Nintendo’s strategy seems to be paying much higher dividends.

This puts the PS5 in an interesting position. It has a few years left of life, at least, although Sony has said it has entered into the later half of its lifecycle, suggesting it won’t be the lead platform quite as long as PS4 was. But when its time is gone how will it be remembered? Will people have the same nostalgia and love for it that they do for the PS2 or even the PS4? I don’t think they will. I think that consoles have become more like VCRs or DVD players used to be. They’re just a way to play games. Sony made a lot of money on VCRs and CD players so they have plenty of experience with this business model, but what is there to say about a VCR?

Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe there are people out there passionate about the PS5. It’s a fine machine. But the fact that 4 years into its lifespan Sony still hasn’t brought back themes and its willingness to put its games on PC as well to me suggests that maybe that’s not the goal. The PS5 just doesn’t have a lot of “personality” and maybe it doesn’t have to. Sony still gets its 30% from sales of multi-plats, and it’s selling plenty of PS5s, with backwards compatibility acting as a strong incentive for brand loyalty when they put out the PS6. Maybe the focus now is on staying the course, increasing profit margins, and treating the PS5 more like any other consumer electronics device.