The console market is facing price hikes, supply chain disruptions, and reduced sales...but CD Projekt's co-CEO thinks consoles will pull through.
Gen 9 has been a rocky period for consoles; the PS5 and Series X/S launched during COVID-19, which hampered supply. Then AI datacenters drove up demand and costs for storage and memory, leading to new sticker-shock prices including an $800 Xbox Series X and a $900 PlayStation 5 Pro. There are rumors of Gen10 (PS6 and Project Helix) being delayed to avoid a $1000+ MSRP for the consoles.
It's not all doom and gloom, though. Execs with behind-the-scenes know-how like CD Projekt co-CEO Michal Nowakowski don't think this is the end for consoles. "We're not worried about the commercial side of it. I think consoles are here to stay. I'm a big believer," Nowakowski said in a recent interview with The Games Business.
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While Sony hasn't really discussed its plans for the PlayStation 6, Microsoft has openly said that it "needs help" to launch Project Helix. This could indicate that the Gen 10 Xbox could be produced with OEM partners like ASUS, making it more akin to a Steam Machine console-PC. This makes sense, as Project Helix has been confirmed to play both Xbox console games and Windows PC games.
Below is a quick transcript of the exchange on the topic of Gen10 consoles, and it's worth checking out because Nowakowski also hints that CD Projekt could support other devices outside of traditional consoles--maybe even Microsoft's theoretical low-cost streaming-only Xbox Keystone.
"I'm not worried. Of course, I'm not a specialist on the business. I don't run a console business and I probably never will. We're only watching the market as participants on the sidelines.
"And of course, all you said is true (about sales falling and costs rising), and the hardware manufacturing perspective, the rising prices of memory, these are big issues for everybody, to be honest.
"For PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo as well. And it's objective, it is what it is. I think consoles are still necessary as market participants in order to broaden the audience on the casual or semi-casual level. I think it's important. There is something for everyone, and I think today we live in many ways the most accessible time in every possible way.
"Especially with plug-and-play consoles and what they are capable of. So I think it's important to the broadening of the audience to have [something] easy to plug in and enjoy. You know, a gaming-from-the-get-go box.
"I'm a big believer that we're going to weather the storm. But the pricing is the objective challenge and we hear the rumors of next-gen being delayed just as you did.
"We hear them, I don't know if they're true or not...
"Does it matter to you? Does it make a difference?"
"The way we look at it is...how we reach the gamers is a little irrelevant. It's the content that is important and we believe that content is king, and if the content is right, people will find a way to play it.
"If PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and Switch are what people are playing, we're going to be there. We're going to try to find a business model that's going to work commercial, that's going to be fine for the players, that they'll be fine with what they paid for and how they paid for it, and so on."
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