The PlayStation 4 and Xbox One are both in such great demand that several popular retail chains are running out of the consoles months before they are expected to get released. Now, several industry insiders are commenting on the pitched preorder battle between the two consoles, including Peter Moore, COO of EA.
While speaking during a report of EA's first quarter earnings for the 2014 fiscal year, Moore announced that Sony and Microsoft have both hyped their consoles to him, IGN reported. Moore said that Microsoft claims Xbox One preorders are ahead of the PlayStation 4, while Sony is reporting to EA that they will have their biggest launch ever when the PlayStation 4 is released.
Moore also revealed that he considers both consoles to be "spectacular" and that he expects millions of gamers to make the switch to next-gen consoles once both are available. Moore concluded that EA would "make moving day painless" for gamers switching consoles, with plans in place to ease the transition, such as allowing players to transfer their FIFA 14 and Madden NFL 25's Ultimate Team Modes data from current to next-gen consoles.
Meanwhile, an industry analyst, Colin Sebastian, spoke to GamesIndustry International about the preorder battle, and he reveled that he feels that Xbox One will have the advantage at launch, due to the amount of consoles Microsoft will be able to make available and the policy changes that Microsoft implemented after backlash from gamers:
"Despite losing the headline battle at E3, Microsoft's Xbox One appears to be regaining some momentum, in part due to the used and online policy tweaks. Importantly, our supply chain checks suggest Microsoft may have the benefit of a 2-3x unit advantage at launch compared to Sony's PS4."
Sebastian, who works for Baird, believes that the $100 price difference between the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 will not be a major factor at launch for the consoles. He explained that hardcore gamers who have preordered the Xbox One do not care about the price difference as much as more casual gamers who are waiting to upgrade to next-gen consoles.
Both Microsoft and Sony are pushing hard to gain an advantage as their consoles get ready for launch, and it will be interesting to see if Sony can regain some of the traction and goodwill they had after E3, or if Microsoft continues to gain back ground and take control of the next-gen console market.