Whenever the so-called “Console Wars” are brought up, it seems almost like beating a dead horse. As was the case through the last generation of consoles, Sony’s PlayStation 5 is greatly outselling the combined efforts of the Xbox Series X and Series S. Having launched one week apart, the PS5 leads the XSX family 37.4 million to 21.7 million.
Overall, this divide comes down to the games. The Xbox Series X is yet to have its major, console-selling exclusive, with those that have launched just to the Microsoft console either being smaller in scale or panned by critics. That looks to change later this year, with the massive acquisition of Bethesda Softworks to bear fruit in the form of Starfield.
On June 11, Xbox has long planned to reveal more about the game and other releases in the works. To beat them to the punch, Sony put on its own Showcase on May 24, and it certainly set a very high bar.
Sony’s PlayStation Showcase further cements its place on top
Putting out a whole host of trailers for upcoming games with release dates for the PlayStation 5 is one thing. This Showcase just had to go further, though, pumping out exciting looks for new PSVR2 content and even Project Q – a DualSense controller with a screen that uses the cloud to deliver its games. It looks like a huge step towards competing with the hybrid Switch and in cloud gaming.
As for the games, it’s tough to look beyond the reveal of the much-craved Ghostrunner 2, a sequel to the highly-acclaimed cyberpunk game that’ll expand the world even further. Other headline reveals include the long-awaited trailer to Dragon’s Dogma 2, Five Nights at Freddy’s Help Wanted 2, Arizona Sunshine 2, Immortals Aveum, Sword of the Sea, Phantom Blade Zero, Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater, Alan Wake 2, Final Fantasy XVI, and Towers of Aghasba.
These don’t even account for half of the reveals within the hefty PlayStation Showcase, and yet, all were overshadowed by the final piece. Right at the end, after revealing the cloud gaming controllers, Spider-Man 2 from Insomniac was announced as arriving this autumn. The announcement came with a cinematic trailer, which then spilled out into a ten-minute gameplay trailer. Now, it’s over to Microsoft.
There’s a lot riding on Starfield for Xbox
On June 11 at 1pm ET, 7pm CET, the Xbox Games Showcase will attempt to give its console owners and Game Pass subscribers some hope for the future. A swathe of eye-catching indie games as well as, hopefully, more information and release windows on previously announced games like ARK 2, Hellblade II, Fable, and State of Decay 3 would be welcomed, and we know that special gear for the flagship game Starfield will also be shown.
The fact that special headsets and controllers look set to come out for Starfield further showcases how much Xbox is banking on the game, and they have every reason to. Bethesda’s credentials aside, space is the in-thing right now, and people just want to explore as much as they can. TV shows like The Expanse, For All Mankind, Another Life, and even comedy Avenue 5 have tickled the itch for passive entertainment seekers.
In more hands-on forms of entertainment, specifically gaming, space has long been a hot theme. You can go back to Spore and its procedurally generated planets for far-out exploration or the comeback story of the century, No Man’s Sky. Beyond video gaming, and to iGaming, so many of the top-ranking online free slots feature the space theme. Little Green Men, Aeterna, Orion, and Stardust Evolution all draw in free spinners en masse. Boasting distinctly sci-fi characters, backing tracks, and even space-themed features, these slots never fail to attract players, and on VSO you can find the biggest free online slots library.
Gaming is the perfect medium for the space theme, whether it’s to toy with the tech available or the physics in play. Starfield is coming from one of the best developers to exploit this opportunity. With The Elder Scrolls games, Bethesda fully immersed you in a fantasy world with hundreds of quests to complete and areas to explore. In Starfield, there will be some 1,000 crafted planets to explore and deep RPG mechanics. You’ll get to explore space exactly as you see fit.
Xbox needs Starfield to be a huge success when it launches later this year, and gamers on all sides want it to be, so hopefully, Microsoft will offer a grand Starfield preview to counter the epic PlayStation Showcase.