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It appears that Microsoft and Sony have had different approaches in dealing with their last-generation consoles following the release of the Xbox Series X/S and PS5 in 2020. While Sony confirmed it is still producing PS4 consoles, Microsoft confirmed it has discontinued the Xbox One generation for more than a year now.
In a statement provided to news outlets on Thursday, Microsoft confirmed that it stopped the production of all Xbox One consoles “by the end of 2020.” Cindy Walker, senior director of Xbox Console Audience Product Marketing, said the Xbox One gen consoles were discontinued so the company could “focus on production of Xbox Series X/S.”
That means all models released during the Xbox One era, including the Xbox One S and Xbox One X, have all been discontinued for a while. Note that the Xbox Series X/S arrived in stores on Nov. 10 in the same year, which means Microsoft ended all Xbox One productions shortly after the new consoles’ release.
More than a year after the Xbox Series X/S and PS5 launched, video game fans around the world are still dealing with short supplies from authorized retailers. The companies said there have been high demands for the consoles, but their availability is likely heavily affected by the continuing parts shortage and other supply chain issues. It then makes sense for Microsoft to choose to focus its resources and supplies for the production of the Xbox Series X/S.
However, Sony appears to have a very different approach in dealing with the shortages and the demands for the PS5. A report from Bloomberg earlier this week stated that Sony has decided to continue making new PS4 consoles to mitigate the shortage of PS5 worldwide.
The same report claimed, and Sony has denied, that the company originally planned to discontinue the PS4 last year. And it also appears that the PlayStation maker believes the PS4 is still in demand despite the presence of PS5. Sony has reportedly sold more than 116 million PS4 units from its launch in November 2013 through October 2021.
The continuing PS4 production also explains why Sony has opted to make its recently released and upcoming first-party AAA games to be cross-generation titles. Guerilla Games’ “Horizon Forbidden West” will launch on Feb. 18, while Santa Monica Studio’s “God of War Ragnarok” is scheduled for an unspecified 2022 release. Both games will be available on PS4 and PS5.
Photo by Louis-Philippe Poitras on Unsplash
