10 Bold Predictions For The New Gaming Generation
Xbox Game Pass will fulfill its full potential as "Netflix for gaming."
There's never a dull moment in the gaming industry, which moves faster than any of us can keep up with and has a habit of continually surprising us all.
The speed with which technology itself develops ensures that gaming is an intensely fluid medium, and over the course of a mere seven-or-eight-year generation, things can look so markedly different.
After all, back in 2013, how many of us could've ever predicted the Battle Royale boom, the uptick in subscription services, or the cult success of virtual reality?
And so, it goes without saying that the new generation of gaming will surely have its own array of surprises in store, from shock business decisions to unexpected hardware releases, and more than a few surprising software developments.
These 10 predictions, informed ever-so-slightly by current industry trends and more than a little educated guesswork, could all certainly come to fruition during the next generation, but at the same time, they could so easily turn out to be courageous swings-and-misses.
Whatever the outcome, this much is clear - always expect the unexpected...
10. Sony Launches Its Own Game Pass Service (With Day & Date PC Releases)
One of the gaming industry's most tectonic shifts this past generation has been the surge in video game subscription services, spearheaded by the success of Microsoft's fantastic Xbox Game Pass.
With Game Pass Ultimate allowing subscribers to play all first-party Microsoft games day-and-date, many have been wondering when Sony might implement their own Netflix-style subscription model.
While Sony of course has the cloud gaming service PlayStation Now and recently introduced the PlayStation Plus Collection for PS5 owners, it's all still decidedly "lesser" than what Game Pass offers.
Yet it's tough to imagine Sony resisting refining their own subscription service for the entirety of the new generation.
While it's highly unlikely that Sony will ever allow their new marquee AAA releases to appear on a Game Pass-style service day-and-date, it wouldn't be surprising to see them added after a certain window of time - say, six or 12 months - as something of a compromise.
Sony will take a bigger cue from Microsoft, however, by ramping up their PC support. While we've seen belated PC ports of PS4-exclusive titles like Death Stranding and Horizon Zero Dawn, before the generation's end first-party PS5 games will most likely release on PC the very same day.
These decisions will naturally be warmly embraced by players, and further cement that gamers have more value-rich options at their disposal than ever before.