Masuk Free Press

On the fifth hour of the twenty-fourth day of the tenth month, we saw the end of an era. Ever since the first days of war between Atari, Sega and Nintendo in the 90’s and the rise of Sony’s Playstation and Microsoft’s Xbox in the 2000’s, the war raged, claiming the lives of corporations and studios alike. We all remember the great debate of many childhoods: Nintendo, Playstation, or Xbox? Now, however, it has finally come to an end. Xbox announced that Halo: Campaign Evolved, the newest Halo game, would be available on Playstation. The era of exclusives is over, and with that, the great war. Well, sort of. 

The problem is that unlike many real wars, there’s no clear winner. If we grade it by sales, out of the top ten best selling consoles, Playstation holds five of the ten, along with holding first place with the Playstation 2 selling a whopping 155 million copies. If we grade by impact, then every company is a winner – Sony and Microsoft created their own stable platforms with plentiful marketplaces that create massive revenue, and Nintendo continues to attract families with their wacky gimmicks and fun games. It’s indisputable, however, that the days of fierce competition between the three kingdoms have ended. The world (and market) have changed; there are no more massive midnight lines for the release of new consoles and hot games. Gaming is no longer a niche for few, but a community for many, not to mention the fact that the PC market has continued to remain in the space as an effective way for gamers to enjoy their favorite experiences and is growing rapidly. However, we can also look to the opinions of gamers for answers. 

Masuk junior Reilly Lippert bought an Xbox Series X in 2024 as his first console, saying “I bought an Xbox because the price was a little bit better, and I had heard better things about Xbox. If I had nothing again, I would probably just look at how much value I get for how much it costs.” 

Reilly’s focus on price is certainly key to understanding why exactly the console war is in the state it is currently in. The higher-end disc drive included Xbox Series X is $649 and the Playstation 5 Pro is $749, treading dangerously close to the thousand dollar prices of prebuilt gaming PCs. For comparison, the Xbox 360, at launch, was $300 (adjusted for inflation, that’s about $450.) These reflect the fact that gaming has become increasingly expensive, even though most console companies make up for the loss of selling consoles by selling games on their marketplaces, where they can dictate the cuts they get out of every sale. People don’t buy consoles for their games anymore, simply whatever is the best value because games are just so readily available and similar amongst marketplaces. 

He also said “I wouldn’t say it’s fully over, But I think it’s pretty close. I feel like more people are going to one side or the other. Personally, I feel like more people that I know have been going towards Playstation 5.” 

He’s right. The Playstation 5 has sold extremely well, supporting his claim, but the issue is that both Xbox and Playstation both have large userbases that they can rely on to consistently buy games or subscription services. Each ecosystem has a bubble, and it’s not feasible for them to pop anytime soon. 

Then the question arises – what do we do now? What will the future be for video games? Unfortunately, Stephen Hawking has already proved we cannot time travel to learn of the answer. However, even though we can time travel into the past with records, it is unrealistic to look at the past for information in this situation. These are unprecedented times for games, after all – massive layoffs, the rise of AI, price hikes and a variety of other changes have made this period for gaming certainly tumultuous. Personally, it’s not unreasonable to assume that Microsoft and Sony continue making gaming consoles unrestricted until another major shakeup in the industry occurs, and that is what I would have said had Valve not announced the Steam Machine, Steam Controller, and Steam Frame. Valve is already a titan in the PC market with a loving community. 

“The steam machine is gonna roll everything down. Steam is literally the best.” said Masuk student Joaquin Dao-Crespo. “Have you seen the summer sales? 50%, 70%, I think there was a 90% sale on Undertale, that’s a great sale!” 

This is the endgame of the console market – machines that are essentially prebuilt gaming PCs. After all, it’s not unreasonable to assume that the rise in PC gaming along with the freedom to access games is going to drive the titans to provide this PC-like freedom that gamers crave, it’s half the reason why the Steam Deck, a first generation handheld console, succeeded so much. Along with the fact that the next Xbox is already confirmed to essentially just be a gaming PC, the whole marketing of Xbox in the past few years has been that you can play it literally anywhere. The truth is that now, the console wars will be fought with this freedom. A big benefit of the Steam ecosystem that Valve has begun to set up is the lack of restriction. Their Linux-based OS provides unparalleled accessibility to tinkerers and the average gamer alike, which is part of the appeal that Valve will bring. By opening the doors for tinkerers and third parties to take advantage of the SteamOS world, they can rack in unparalleled levels of cash, and on a personal level Steam and PC gaming is my go-to. I love modding my strategy games, and Steam’s workshop feature is so easy to utilize, and this is a major factor feeding into the love for this new form of gaming. The sales, as mentioned before, are also a huge appeal – their sales allow gamers from all economic backgrounds to have fun with PC gaming too. 

Masuk student Ari Ashe also shared this sentiment. “PC gaming is really just better in every way. When it comes to gaming, that’s like the pinnacle. It’s like the Android situation on phones because I’m able to do whatever I want on it if I know how to do that. I do feel like everything’s just over now, and everything’s just going to turn into PC gaming. It’s like that concept with the crab, where everything eventually evolves into a crab.” 

The crab phenomenon might truly be the unfortunate endgame of the great console war. The lines have blurred, and as the gates open, the question will soon become who can provide the best marketplace for gamers, and I think that Steam will be able to dominate this new world should the Steam Machine be readily available and reasonably priced. After all, Xbox saw massive losses in Game Pass subscriptions when the price was raised, and with Steam providing a free marketplace, online services and software management, the other big players may just go the way of the dodo.