Sony is in a cocky mood these days, much reminiscent of the end of the PS2’s lifespan. It’s gone eerily quiet in terms of messaging to its fanbase while the competition continues to ramp up plenty of pro-consumer moves. We’ve been given the briefest insight into Sony’s vision for the next-generation of consoles though, courtesy of the company’s chief executive, Kenichiro Yoshida.

Speaking to the WSJ, Yoshida suggested the focus for the PlayStation 5 will be doubling down on large-scale, AAA ‘hardcore’ gaming. Sony wants more games, bigger games, and bigger partnerships. “Games have become more important than ever,” said Yoshida, although it appears Sony’s flag-waving for the indie scene at the start of the PS4 era has well and truly fallen by the wayside.

Less air time will be given to indie titles in general, according to the WSJ’s sources, with PS5 targeted at fans of “graphics heavy” and “hardcore” titles. It sounds as if they’re trying to target the same audience as high-end PC gaming, to be honest, so they’re going to need to back it up with some fantastic hardware.

Here’s where things get really interesting though, as it sounds as if not only will Sony increase the development of its own in-house titles but it will also be pushing exclusive content from larger publishers as it wants PlayStation gamers to “play high-quality games available only on that platform.” Those hoping the days of exclusives and moneyhatting were coming to an end, think again. 

As for the competition, Sony, aptly enough, still sees Microsoft as its biggest threat in the console landscape. Sony doesn’t even view Nintendo as a competitor due to the suggestion Nintendo consoles cater to a younger demographic. As for the likes of Google Stadia, Sony has relegated this to a mid to long-term threat but doesn’t see Stadia posing an issue in the short term.

2020 is starting to shape up to be a mighty interesting year. On top of the fantastic line-up of games that is forming, Sony appears to be pushing hard in terms of delivering top-end gaming hardware for the PS5. From the sounds of things, the PS5 being faster than Xbox Scarlett is a top priority. This could go one of two ways, with Sony’s stance eerily reminiscent of the days before the PlayStation 3 launch. 

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