Sony Boss Revealed PlayStation Considered Making Xbox Series S-Like PS5

Sony considered a lower-spec PS5 gaming console similar to the Xbox Series S, but it was afraid it would quickly become obsolete, said CEO Jim Ryan.

Ryan’s statement was taken from his recent interview with the Japanese site AV Watch with translations provided by VGC. The executive shared that low-priced reduced spec consoles did not have great results in the past based on Sony’s research. At one point, the Japanese gaming giant considered creating a lower spec PS5 similar to the Xbox Series S; however, Sony decided to go against it.

One of the significant reasons for doing so was that releasing a cheaper and lower spec PS5 had not worked well in the past, Ryan explained. There are also aside fears of longevity in regards to the said gaming system. There is a thought that customers would eventually expect that their system is compatible with newer technology like 4K TVs and would be considered outdated in a short period.

Multiple developers have also expressed the same fears about the Xbox Series S, particularly when it comes to its RAM capabilities. Id Software Engine Programmer Axel Gneiting shared in a now-deleted tweet that he was “really bummed about this RAM situation on the Series S. This isn’t easy to compensate and drags down base spec quite a bit for next-gen multi platform."

Director Of Xbox Program Management Jason Ronald shared in a recent interview with The Verge that Microsoft made a lot of analysis of what it would mean to run games at 4K with 60fps and scale down to 1440p at 60 fps. “The reality is you don’t need as much memory bandwidth because you’re not loading the highest level MIP levels into memory,” he said. “You don’t need the same amount of memory as well,” the executive added.

As of now, the accuracy of Ryan’s prediction remains to be seen. Sony earlier revealed the official price points of its next-generation gaming consoles. The PS5 costs $499 while the PS5 Digital Edition retails at $399. The consoles are scheduled to arrive on November 12.