5 Years Later, the PS5 Has Destroyed Xbox. But the PS6 Faces a Bigger Threat

Nobody could have predicted the turbulent state that console gaming is in right now.

Five years ago, Sony and Microsoft both launched next-gen consoles with very similar PC-based architectures. The PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X (and its less-powerful sibling, the Series S) promised even bigger and more realistic gaming experiences with near PC-quality graphics and responsiveness. We were told that ray tracing—the recreation of realistic lighting, reflections, and shadows in games—would be worth spending $500 for a new box to plug into our 4K TVs.

On the fifth birthday of both consoles, I can tell you we were sold a lie. Jaw-dropping as ray tracing is, few games even support the graphics enhancement. Out of the more than 1,050 games in the PS5’s library, only 60-something games support ray tracing—that’s a measly 6%. As disappointing as that is, the PS5 has emerged as the winner against the Xbox Series X, outselling Microsoft’s game console by a huge margin. As of November 2025, the PS5’s crossed 84 million units shipped globally since 2020, versus the estimated 30 million that the Xbox Series X/S in the same amount of time.

Where Microsoft has fumbled again and again—trying to turn Xbox into the “Netflix of gaming†with Game Pass, pivoting to a larger publisher by buying Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion, and hiking hardware prices multiple times because of an internal mandate to turn a 30% profit—Sony has expertly navigated the same industry challenges with smart expansions for its PlayStation brand.

There’s no telling what will happen in the future, but looking back at the past five years of PS5, it’s clear that Sony did good by gamers. Really f*cking good, for the most part.

Designed for gamer needs

I’ll admit that when I first saw the PS5, I was not into its curved panels or its massive size. Consoles are supposed to get smaller and more powerful, not larger—shrinkage is an easy and visible marker of technological progress. The original Xbox was disliked (especially in Japan) because it was such a behemoth. But it seems the PS5 design was just right, at least compared to the Xbox Series X, which is literally just a plain-looking black box. So out of the gate, Sony shipped hardware that looked like it was from the future—people really love gadgets that look materially new and different.

As the games (and exclusives like Spider-Man: Miles Morales and Final Fantasy VII: Remake) rolled in, it became more certain to me that the PS5 was the better hardware for the long run. Though my launch-day PS5 only had 825GB of built-in SSD storage, it could easily be expanded with a standard M.2 NVMe SSD. The Xbox Series X has a proprietary storage expansion slot on the back, but for many years, only Seagate sold them, and they were really expensive. Sony chose the less evil path, and gamers like me appreciate that openness.

Even better than an affordable way to add storage to install the ballooning size of games were two hardware features I didn’t think would leave any long-lasting impression on me: the adaptive triggers in the DualSense controller and the “Tempest 3D audio.†Adaptive triggers provide more nuanced haptic feedback, like the ability to feel the resistance of a car gear pedal in Gran Turismo 7, the tension when pulling back a bow in Horizon: Forbidden West or switching a weapon in Resident Evil Village, or even the different surface materials in Astro Bot. Adaptive triggers add another layer of sensory immersion. Tempest 3D audio is less known, but almost every PS5 game supports it. Using a compatible headset, you can hear subtle sound effects like footsteps, gunfire, and rain (to name a few) coming from different directions. It works so well and is so underrated, but it really heightens things in the thick of a game. I never used a gaming headset with my consoles before, but on PS5, I almost always do.

Trying things

The evolving nature of gaming also means it’s not enough for Sony (or anybody) to launch a console and just get as many games on it as possible. Those days are long gone. So Sony tried things; weird things that didn’t necessarily become big hits, but I’m still glad it took a stab at them because it’s kept the PS5 from aging out.

Peripherals like the PlayStation VR2, a second-generation version of the PSVR for PS4, opened up the console to more VR games and a 2D virtual screen to play PlayStation titles on. The PlayStation Portal, while not a standalone handheld on its own, let players stream their PS5 to it over Wi-Fi for remote play away from the console. A free software update has expanded the Portal’s functionality to allow streaming PlayStation games directly from the cloud instead of from a PS5. Sure, the PSVR 2 is largely a failure and the Portal doesn’t really compete with the Switch 2 or any handheld PC, but they gave the PS5 a moat. The Xbox Series X had no such thing.

The full-on hardware refresh with the slimmer PS5 and the more powerful PS5 Pro in 2024 has no doubt helped prop up the console as it enters its midlife. Does it suck that Sony hiked up prices for the PS5 and PS5 Pro a year later because of Trump’s nonsensical tariffs? Absolutely, but that doesn’t seem to have hurt PS5 sales as much as it has hurt Xbox Series X sales.

Expanding to PC

I’ll get to Sony bringing its PS5 exclusives to PC and what that means for PlayStation’s future in a second, but the one thing the company deserves more credit for is expanding the PlayStation brand beyond the console hardware.

A PlayStation will always primarily be a console that sits under your TV first, but it’s now also a family of devices that orbit it and any gaming PCs that can play its exclusive titles. Unlike Microsoft, which has leaned into Xbox being a service that can be played on any device, Sony sees PlayStation as an ecosystem and lifestyle gaming brand. In that way, it’s becoming more like Razer, which sells its own Blade gaming laptops, but also sells the peripherals designed for them.

When Sony announced its Inzone PC gaming brand of gaming headsets and monitors, which also worked with PS5, I knew it was only a matter of time before we got more. You didn’t need 20/20 vision to see that the Inzone products were heavily inspired by the PS5’s white and black design language.

Inzone and PlayStation are still separate gaming brands today, and they’re serving both PlayStation and PC gamers. The PlayStation Pulse Elite headset and Pulse Explore wireless earbuds are made for PS5, but they’re also compatible with PC gaming. Same goes for the 27-inch PlayStation Gaming Monitor with DualSense Charging Hook, FlexStrike wireless fighting stick, and the Pulse Elevate portable desktop speakers, which are all coming out in 2026.

This vast and growing ecosystem of PlayStation hardware only deepens and entrenches the platform as a place worth buying into. Like a sports team, consumers root for the companies and platforms they feel the general managers are growing. Sony is winning physical and psychological mindshare with PS5- and PC-compatible hardware, while Microsoft is… apparently trying to compete with TikTok and movies. In trying to make every device an Xbox, Microsoft has lost its focus on what console gamers crave—new consoles and the accompanying peripherals to make games more enjoyable—whereas Sony has only doubled down on core gamers.

PlayStation first, PC second

It’s such a strange thing to see once-exclusive Xbox games like Forza Horizon 5 and Gears of War: Reloaded on PS5, and Halo coming to Sony’s console in 2026. These franchises used to be fodder for taking sides, but not anymore. Now that Microsoft has prioritized publishing its games on as many platforms as possible, there’s almost no reason to be loyal to Xbox.

Time will tell whether chasing profits from games was worth sacrificing Xbox consoles at the altar, but Sony is facing the same challenge of rising game development costs. Bigger AAA games with more detailed graphics cost more money to make than ever before—hundreds of millions of dollars. So it only makes sense that publishing a game on as many platforms—even a competitor’s—is a more sustainable business model.

The difference is that Sony is not handing out its games to PC before it has milked them out on PS5 first. Well-reviewed games like Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 released on PS5 in October 2023, but only on PC in January 2025, and Ghost of Tsushima: Director’s Cut came out on PS5 in 2021, but on PC in May 2024. Even remastered versions of old titles like the PS4’s God of War, launched first on PS5 in May 2021 before arriving a year later on PC in January 2022.

This friendliness for publishing its games for PC and even making so much PC/PS5-compatible hardware has many thinking that Sony’s taking steps to follow Microsoft and become an all-platform publisher, but that’s just not going to happen. In case all the PS5 peripherals didn’t make it clear, the first and main platform that Sony wants gamers playing its games is on its own PlayStation consoles. PC is not an equal citizen; it’s second-class. Sony is only publishing its games on PC to recoup losses (if a game bombs) or gain additional revenue later (once PS5 sales have tapered off). Remember that most of the work of porting a game from PS5 to PC has already been done, thanks to the similarities in x86 system architecture for both platforms, so it’s more cost-efficient than it would have been pre-PS4 era.

Positioned for PS6, but the Steam Machine looms

Looking ahead, Sony is in a good position to launch its next-gen PlayStation—let’s just call it the PlayStation 6—in a few years and cruise to victory. Rumors suggest that the PS6 could launch in 2027 or 2028, which would be in line with past console lifecycles; the PS5 launched seven years after the PS4. Microsoft says it’s committed to premium Xbox hardware, which is expected to launch around the same time, but with all the missteps it’s made, the Xbox faithful may not pull up.

It also doesn’t help that Sony’s PS6 could resemble the Nintendo Switch 2 with a hybrid design that can go from console to handheld and vice versa. Or if the PS6 is a traditional console and a separate handheld, that could be concerning, too. Such a hardware departure could leave whatever Microsoft has planned for its Xbox Series X successor looking outdated if it also doesn’t have some handheld component.

Sony’s biggest threat isn’t a new Xbox or the Switch 2—it’s Valve’s newly announced Steam Machine that’s launching in early 2026. The 6 x 6-inch console is basically a tiny gaming PC that runs SteamOS, which means it can play your full library of Steam games. Tech specs and first impressions from the media show the Steam Machine is a capable enough 1080p and 1440p gaming box, but it may fall short of the performance from the PS5 Pro. Specs-wise, Sony has the edge now, and will for sure eclipse the Steam Machine with the PS6, but it’s not just Valve’s box that it will have to compete with. The same way the Steam Deck opened the door to bigger and more powerful handheld PCs to the point where the market quickly became saturated, the Steam Machine will be a blueprint for third-party companies, big and small, to launch their own SteamOS-based consoles. When—not if—that happens, Sony will face assault from more directions than it ever has.

Game exclusives and an expanding hardware ecosystem helped catapult the PS5 to the top and leave Xbox maimed and confused. It’s also something that Sony shouldn’t lose sight of for the PS6 and beyond. A steady stream of exclusives always sells new hardware. It’s always been this way and always will be. Just look at Nintendo. Mario, Zelda, and Pokémon carried the Switch to over 150 million units shipped worldwide, and it’s going to do the same thing for the Switch 2, which is already breaking records. If the PS6 isn’t as successful as the PS5, it’ll be because there aren’t enough exclusive games.