Sony can't buy Valve or Steam; it'd be very hard for anyone to buy a gaming storefront with at least 80%+ of the PC gaming market share. I don't think regulators would tolerate that for any company. Though, Sony would have a much easier time buying them than Microsoft, that's for sure.
IMO, Sony need to start taking features that work for Steam, and add them to the PlayStation user experience. Full transparency on game MAU metrics (CCUs, timezone peaks, etc.), integrated community forums, a better refund policy, etc. That would be the first step. From there they should consider adding more PC-like functionality to the PlayStation user experience. Port some of their productivity software to the platform and use them as value-adds for PS+ subscribers, make image editing & 3D modeling programs for users to buy (or get as part of a subscription); they could probably make something like Blender & UE5 but using the Decima engine for example, and have users run it on a PS5. Also do things like expand on multi-app instances within reason, such as a game running in one window and an app in the other.
The reason I suggest this is because I think Microsoft are going to surprise a lot of people with their next hardware. They may not be producing it to the scale of a mass-market console, and it'll cost more than a console, but expanding Xbox to have more PC-like functions and especially allowing Steam, GOG etc. to be usable freely on it, will probably be appealing to a good number of core enthusiasts and people who want conveniences of a console with the openness of a PC, but without the micromanagement required of modern PC gaming.
That could prove a more formidable Xbox to PlayStation than Xbox has been in the past 10 years on a strictly traditional console business model, and then there's the Switch 2, which goes without saying the challenge it could pose for PlayStation going forward. Then the growing market of these various PC handheld devices, and mobile as well. I don't understand people who say the "console war is over", as if that means PlayStation can just rest on its laurels. If it's turning into a "platform war", then if anything the real challenge for PlayStation is just beginning.
What can Sony offer with PlayStation beyond just more power for more expensive premium AAA games that overall getting smaller in number, and more homogenized in creativity to play it safe? For console hardware that isn't seeing the same price cuts it did in past generations? Growing PlayStation as a platform doesn't mean they can just be content where the console is ATM and think that growth comes from transmedia, IMHO. And, without the PlayStation console, what identity does the wider-range platform actually truly have?
IMO, Sony need to start taking features that work for Steam, and add them to the PlayStation user experience. Full transparency on game MAU metrics (CCUs, timezone peaks, etc.), integrated community forums, a better refund policy, etc. That would be the first step. From there they should consider adding more PC-like functionality to the PlayStation user experience. Port some of their productivity software to the platform and use them as value-adds for PS+ subscribers, make image editing & 3D modeling programs for users to buy (or get as part of a subscription); they could probably make something like Blender & UE5 but using the Decima engine for example, and have users run it on a PS5. Also do things like expand on multi-app instances within reason, such as a game running in one window and an app in the other.
The reason I suggest this is because I think Microsoft are going to surprise a lot of people with their next hardware. They may not be producing it to the scale of a mass-market console, and it'll cost more than a console, but expanding Xbox to have more PC-like functions and especially allowing Steam, GOG etc. to be usable freely on it, will probably be appealing to a good number of core enthusiasts and people who want conveniences of a console with the openness of a PC, but without the micromanagement required of modern PC gaming.
That could prove a more formidable Xbox to PlayStation than Xbox has been in the past 10 years on a strictly traditional console business model, and then there's the Switch 2, which goes without saying the challenge it could pose for PlayStation going forward. Then the growing market of these various PC handheld devices, and mobile as well. I don't understand people who say the "console war is over", as if that means PlayStation can just rest on its laurels. If it's turning into a "platform war", then if anything the real challenge for PlayStation is just beginning.
What can Sony offer with PlayStation beyond just more power for more expensive premium AAA games that overall getting smaller in number, and more homogenized in creativity to play it safe? For console hardware that isn't seeing the same price cuts it did in past generations? Growing PlayStation as a platform doesn't mean they can just be content where the console is ATM and think that growth comes from transmedia, IMHO. And, without the PlayStation console, what identity does the wider-range platform actually truly have?
