With the PlayStation 5 apparently reaching the end of its lifecycle, it seems like this may just be the shortest span for any PlayStation ever. So, when did the PS5 actually come out, and why is it being put to bed so early?
PS5 release date
The PS5 was released on November 12, 2020, in Australia, Japan, New Zealand, North America, and South Korea, with the rest of the world following one week later. It was released with some pretty heavy supply problems across the world, with all sorts of wild bidding and buying tactics occurring.
A huge second-hand sales market popped up as people across the globe managed to get their hands on multiple consoles. These were acquired through manufacturer connections, crazy queuing, and other nefarious means. They were then sold on at greatly inflated prices resulting in the uptake of the PS5 being slow and hesitant.
This slow and arduous uptake of the PS5 was also matched by a lack of really exciting titles. Of course, there were a few remakes and remasters to look forward to, such as Demon Souls and Spider-Man, but nothing groundbreaking. Throughout the lifetime of the PlayStation 5, since its release, it hasn’t pushed the boat out or had any generation-defining titles. If Naughty Dog remakes The Last of Us one more time, I am going to start burning stuff.
Is the PS5 the last of them?
With such a short life cycle and the drastic lack of exclusives, Sony may be finally bowing out of the console game. Of course, this is simply my speculation, but I feel that signs point towards a change in direction for consoles on the whole. With only 50 million sales of the PS5 compared to the 158 million of the PS2, it isn’t looking great for Team Blue.
A lot of the PlayStation exclusives are now available on PC, including the Souls games, Last of Us, and God of War. If the newer ones aren’t there yet, they will be soon enough. With Microsoft being so close to simply creating a gaming PC with their consoles, all they need to do is allow the next Xbox to stream Steam games, and the console race is over.
Before the PS5 finally bows out, there may be a few more exclusives to come out, giving the console its last gasps. However, I don’t feel that another Final Fantasy will be enough to bring Sony back to the golden age of the PlayStation 2. If Sony wants to rise to relevance again in the console market, I feel they are going to have to do something drastic to draw back the disenfranchised players and fans.
