PlayStation has already generated significantly more video views from last week’s digital PS5 reveal event that it did from its most recent E3 showing or PS4’s first-year events.
As of Monday,PS5 reveal eventvideos have amassed more than 80 million combined views, which is doublePS4’s first E3 (about 40m) and significantly higher than PS4’s own reveal event (around 53m) orPlayStation‘s most recent E3 showing in 2018 (55m).
The figures, which are based on YouTube views from official PlayStation videos, demonstrate the huge demand for new information onSony’s next-gen console.
They also show PlayStation can still generate significant engagement without a physical presence at E3, which the platform holder hasdeclined to attend for the past two years(this year’sE3 show was eventually cancelleddue to the pandemic).
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Growth in internet use, plus social isolation measures caused by the pandemic, will also have factored intoPlayStation 5’s increased engagement.
In its first four days, last week’sofficial PS5 live stream videohas generated more than 17m views across six language versions. In comparison,PS4’s 2013 PlayStation Meetingwas viewed 3 million times and its E3 2018 showcase was viewed 2.4m times.
ThePS5 hardware revealvideo is now PlayStation’s second most viewed video ever at 22m, behind only PS4’s 2013 reveal video at 37m.
Across official console platform YouTube channels, onlyXbox’sMinecraftvillage update video (35m), andNintendo’s trailers forSwitch(43m),Super Mario Odyssey(41m), Switch parental controls (36m) and another for Super Mario Odyssey (32m) have been viewed more times than PS5’s hardware video.
According to market intelligence firm DFC, interest for PlayStation 5 has far exceeded rivalXbox Series X, which kicked off a monthly event series in May withan independent games-focused showcase.
“Thelatest DFC Intelligence forecasts have the PlayStation 5 outselling the Xbox Series X by a significant margin,” the firm said in a note. “Sony has big advantages that include better marketing and distribution, a larger built-in audience, and of course exclusive games.
“However, the one area whereMicrosoftis catching up is on the exclusive game front. So, the PlayStation 5 game reveal was important because it gives consumers something to get excited about.”
It added: “One measure of how excited an audience is about a new system is how many non-industry consumers contact us about product reveal events.
“Starting on May 7th, Microsoft will be hosting monthly reveal events. However, the interest we have seen in the Xbox events paled compared with the June 11th Sony event (which may be a reason Microsoft is skipping a June event).”
