A couple days ago the Xbox Series consoles celebrated 4 years of existence and I did a look back on the consoles life so far. Today, the PlayStation 5 turns 4 years old so it's only fair to do the same.

That's right, the PlayStation 5 is officially 4 years old after launching on November 12th 2020, two days after the Xbox Series consoles. The world was in the midst of the Covid pandemic and was in dire need of entertainment sources. Enter the next generation of consoles.

A Launch To Remember

With the launch of the PlayStation 5 coming during the pandemic, it was hard to know just how well the release would do. With many not working money was limited, and with game development being much more difficult getting a good launch lineup would be difficult for the consoles with many third party games being delayed.

Thankfully PlayStation had a solid lineup of first party games right out the gate. With Spider-Man remastered as well as Miles Morales, the Demon Soul's remake as well as Sackboy and the Astro's Playroom pack in, there was plenty of options for PlayStation gamers to test out the features of the PlayStation 5.

PlayStation also decided to go the 2 SKU route like Xbox did, however they took a much different approach. While Xbox created a powerful console and a less powerful budget console, PlayStation kept things simple. They had the traditional PlayStation 5 and the digital version which was the same console just without a disc drive for $100 cheaper. Revisionist history would show this was the better option.

All in all this led to a very successful launch with the console performing well. Despite significant shortages due to a lack of parts, the PlayStation 5 was off to the races in an attempt to outsell the previous generations PlayStation 4, a tall task to be sure.

A Solid If Unspectacular Start

Despite the issues with game development due to Covid, PlayStation in the first year had a solid lineup, though it wasn't as strong as they had hoped. Much like Xbox, many of its heavy hitters were delayed. The main difference between the 2 companies was Xbox's delays were from launch into 2021, where as PlayStation's delays meant a lighter 2021 with a stronger 2022. But PlayStation still had enough in 2021 to stay afloat.

Ratchet & Clank and Returnal (technically not first party, but Housemarque was acquired just after the release of Returnal) set the stage for the early part of 2021. While neither were massive successes, at least by PlayStation's lofty standards, they were solid games that helped fill the gap between the heavy hitters that were to come in 2022.

Where PlayStation was really able to setup its lineup however, at least from an exclusive standpoint, was its third party deals. Deathloop (which is funnily enough now owned by Xbox), Final Fantasy VII remake Intergrade and Kena: Bridge Of Spirits really helped boost the lineup. Truthfully, this is something PlayStation has done masterfully this generation, and it will come up again.

Arguably The Best Stretch In PlayStation History

2022 is really where things ramped up for PlayStation and began to set the PlayStation 5 apart. All the delays from 2021 meant a stacked first party lineup from the jump. It started with the Uncharted Legacy Of Thieves Collection and was quickly followed up by Horizon Forbidden West and Gran Turismo 7.

Of course at the end of the year PlayStation had arguably the best game of the generation so far in God Of War Ragnarok and a remake of one of the best games of the previous generation in The Last Of Us which finished off a stacked year. Mix in some solid timed exclusives in Stray, Ghostwire Tokyo and Sifu and it looks even better.

The follow up might have been even more impressive, at least from a business standpoint. 2023 finally saw the supply restraints come to an end and PlayStation set out to break records by selling the most consoles in a fiscal year. While they ultimately came up a bit short of their initial 25 million projections, they still moved an impressive 21+ million units and really pushed the PlayStation 5 into another gear.

On the software side things slowed down, at least from first party, with Spider-Man 2 being the only major release. They were able to once again supplement the lineup with third party deals for Final Fantasy 16 and some other smaller titles to keep the momentum going.

Lastly, they released the PSVR2 early in 2023. Honestly I don't really know what to say when it comes to PSVR2 at this point. Outside of Horizon Call Of The Mountain it feels like PlayStation sent this thing out to die. Some initial projections suggested it might be doing ok, but the lack of support has been glaring and in my opinion has been a pretty big misstep.

The Mixed Bag Of 2024

Unlike Xbox which still has quite a bit of juice left in 2024, PlayStation's year in terms of games is done outside of Lego Horizons which releases in a couple of days. I've already covered the year when discussing PlayStation's 30th anniversary celebrations but I'll go over it again as it's been a rather interesting year.

Going into the year many expected it to be a slower year for PlayStation. PlayStation themselves were even tempering expectations saying don't expect any of its major IPs this year. What we got was a year of highs mixed with lows, supplemented with more third party exclusives (see a pattern here?).

First the highs, and there's a lot of them. Helldivers 2 turned into a massive success story both critically and commercially. Astro Bot released and is a serious game of the year contender and possibly the best non Nintendo made platformer ever. Both Stellar Blade and Rise Of The Ronin were good to great. Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is another third party exclusive that's in that GOTY talk as is Silent Hill 2 Remake.

However 2024 has also been the first time we've seen real dents in the PlayStation armor. The company has seen big layoffs with its recently acquired Bungie studio and its major push to try and get into the live service business has been boom or bust. While Helldivers 2 has succeeded Concord will go down as one of the biggest flops in gaming history after shuttering the servers just a couple of weeks after launch.

Naughty Dog's foray into the live service genre will likely never be seen as PlayStation cancelled The Last Of Us Factions before it ever saw the light of day. Between the 2 games it likely cost the company hundreds of millions.

Finally there is the launch of the PlayStation 5 Pro. It's too early to get much of a read on what kind of impact the Pro will have and if it's a win or a loss, so for now we will simply leave that alone.

Where Does PlayStation Go From Here?

So now the big question is, what does the future look like? If I'm being honest it's hard to predict. There's a lot to like moving ahead, but there are some warning signs as well. Generally I'm a positive person so let's start there.

The reason many expected a slow couple of years from PlayStation first party this generation was because most of their studios released games near the tail end of the PlayStation 4. Thankfully we're now getting around that time where we should start seeing those studios next projects.

We've already seen Sucker Punch's next game Ghost Of Yotei which is scheduled for 2025. We might also get to see what Days Gone developer Bend is working on as well as possibly what Naughty Dog is up to. There's also Wolverine from Insomniac. While the roadmap might not be as full as Xbox's, there's still enough to get excited about.

The big concern for PlayStation going forward is something I don't see many talking about and that's third party. If you noticed the trend of the last few years, first party output has been hit or miss. PlayStation has been able to boost its lineup thanks to many third party deals. The potential problem is, it seems like more companies are looking to get away from exclusivity deals, which could leave them thin.

Ultimately this isn't a huge deal as it's not like the games will leave PlayStation, and Xbox certainly has it's fair share of issues that might still lead some companies PlayStation's way, but it is something to keep an eye on regardless.

Also there is the continued push with live service. I get the appeal but PlayStation has made its name with single player experiences. Hopefully they don't lean too far the other way, and if they do hopefully it's more Helldivers 2 success and less Concord.

Final Grade

So where does this all leave us? If I'm grading the PlayStation 5's first 4 years it's an easy A. The console itself is a great machine and PlayStation has had many hits, including many games on the short list for game of the generation and few misses. While I have some concerns about the future, what I've seen so far has been nothing short of brilliant from PlayStation.