Although PlayStation 5 is set to launch around the same time as the Xbox Series X, Microsoft's console has already been revealed. We know what the Series X will look like, its capabilities and the sort of games it will sport - even though it won't come with any exclusives until 2022.
Despite no such information having been released for the PS5, the buzz behind the scenes is reaching fever pitch. Now, a survey of games developers, many of whom likely have access to the early PS5 development kits, shows the PS5 is generating more interest within the industry than its Microsoft rival.
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The GDC (Games Developers Conference) 2020 State Of The Industry report, published ahead of the conference in San Francisco, polled almost 4,000 developers to find out what platforms they were working on, what to expect from the future of gaming and what they were most excited by.
The results were eye-opening. Just 9% of developers are currently making games for the Xbox Series X (listed in the survey as the Xbox Scarlett) compared to 11% of respondents making games for PlayStation. To put that in context, 39% of developers asked were making mobile games, while 56% were making PC titles.
It's helpful to underline that developers could be making cross-platform titles or working on multiple projects, so the numbers are indicative at best. However, the gap between Xbox Series X and PS5 begins to widen as we look at other questions. When asked which platforms their next project would be on, 17% said Xbox Series X and 23% said PS5. When asked "which platform(s) most interest you as a developer right now?" 25% said Series X while a huge 38% said PS5.
Perhaps its because the PS5 has been kept under wraps for so long, and the excitement is all down to the mystery. However, given that more developers have claimed they were working on PS5 than Xbox in the survey, perhaps the interest is indicative of performance secrets known to developers working on PS5 games, sharing details which have yet to be disclosed to the public.
We've seen some specifications and details as to what the Xbox Series X will be capable of — such as 8k gaming — and we believe the PS5 will be able to perform similar feats. However, with no concrete information about the PS5, the increased interest might be a result of industry-exclusive "open secrets".
On the other hand, perhaps its simply because all Xbox Series X launch games will be cross-platform, while PS5 will likely feature both cross-platform games and exclusives like Godfall. Either way, with a PS5 announcement mere weeks away, it won't be long until we know what's got games developers in such a furore. Are you as excited as we are?
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