In contrast, Microsoft quickly abandoned the Kinect. The PlayStation virtual reality headset sold more than five million units worldwide during the last generation. Sony has also had great success selling hardware peripherals that make its consoles more attractive, evident in recent quarterly revenues. The console is marketed in terms of first-party exclusives, such as those developed by Naughty Dog (Uncharted, The Last of Us) and Sony Computer Entertainment’s Santa Monica Studio (God of War). Sony’s recent PS5 launch carries on this tradition. In 2010, Microsoft paid Rockstar Games US$75,000,000 to stop Grand Theft Auto IV from becoming a Playstation 3 exclusive. Sony and Microsoft have in the past paid millions to developers for exclusivity deals. Sony’s focus on exclusivityįor a long time, new consoles had been primarily marketed around “platform exclusive” titles available only for that console. Meanwhile, Microsoft yesterday launched its Project xCloud game streaming service in Australia - the most recent step in a wider trend towards embracing a subscription-based business model. Sony continues to focus on providing exclusive content. But unlike previous launches, they present starkly different visions for the future of video gaming. As is typical for a “next-generation” launch, both consoles sport significant boosts to computing power, support 4K graphics and offer faster performance and loading times.