PS5 vs. Xbox Series X poll reveals twice as many gamers prefer Sony's console
A clear winner has emerged after polling 350 Inverse readers.
With both PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X due to launch this fall during an economic recession, many fans will have to decide which console is the most appealing investment in the future of their home entertainment setup. At the time of this writing, Inverse polled 350 readers about next-generation consoles, and a clear winner has already emerged based on this modest sampling.
When asked, "Which next-gen console interests you most?" 58 percent of the people who took the survey answered PlayStation 5.
Sony will once again be on top in the next generation of video game consoles, at least in the eyes of 203 Inverse readers, all despite Microsoft's best efforts to make Xbox a more appealing platform. Still, 26.6 percent of Inverse readers said the Xbox Series X was their most anticipated console. At least 93 people out there are still more interested in Microsoft's next-gen plans.
Some people haven't limited themselves to one of these consoles either. 14.6 percent of readers, about 51 people, said that they will pick up both PS5 and Xbox Series X when they are released sometime this holiday season. Only 3 people, or 0.9 percent, said they would not be purchasing either console when they launch.
At this point, we have a decent idea of what each system will look like at launch.
The PS5 is a bit more restrictive in terms of backward compatibility for games and accessories but will have some interesting new exclusives like Astro's Playroom, Deathloop, and Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales.
Meanwhile, Microsoft pushed its flagship launch title, Halo Infinite, to 2021. This leaves an extensive catalog of enhanced backward compatible Xbox, Xbox 360, and Xbox One games and a few exclusives like The Medium, Tetris Effect: Connected, and Scorn as the main draws at release.
Interestingly, the answers to this poll conflict with a later question. Inverse asked readers to rate "How important is processing power in your console choice?" on a scale of 1 to 5. Overall, 328 of the people we interviewed listed 3 or above, showing that processing power is very important to gamers as we move into next-gen. Technically, the Xbox Series X is the more powerful console with a more robust GPU and CPU.
As such, it's interesting to see so many people say they care the most about processing power while technically choosing the console that's a bit weaker. Still, the PS5's marketing is a bit more overt at showing what the SSD could do for games like Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart, so it's not surprising that many are perceiving it as the more powerful platform.
Overall, our poll clearly shows that most of Inverse's readers are looking forward to PS5, with the system's heavily marketed processing power playing a key part in that choice.
The Inverse Analysis — PlayStation obviously has a lot of goodwill and trust going into the next-generation, whereas Microsoft has to fight harder in order to claw its way to the top. Because of that, these results aren't all that surprising, even if is a bit ironic that processing power is such an important factor. Based on this poll's sampling, it does look like the PS5 is primed to be a success for Sony.
But that doesn't mean Microsoft will lose if these proportions remain accurate for a larger sampling of people.
PS5 and Xbox Series X will be released during the 2020 holiday season.
