Although the new PlayStation and the next Microsoft console are planned for Christmas 2020, distribution plans may change.
The launch of PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X at Christmas 2020 may be affected by Wuhan's coronavirus. Like other large multinational companies dedicated to the consumer electronics sector, Sony and Microsoft manufacture their consoles in China, but the situation of the Asian giant is disrupting the manufacturing flows of virtually everything. According to the financial consultant Jefferies Group, their departure can be disrupted.
As reported by Pulse for Business Insider, the video game sector is no stranger to this circumstance, whose workers in China are being removed from their offices indefinitely; at least until the situation normalizes.
“The videogame sector is currently manufacturing, or starting to manufacture, a generation of products for several years ahead of the 2020 holiday season,” begins pointing Jefferies Group regarding PS5 and Xbox Series X. “If you close them (of the companies) continue for a month or more, the programming of those games will be delayed. The new consoles could, in the same way, suffer supply problems due to this prolonged interruption, (launching) thus beyond what was planned in autumn 2020 ”, they continue.
Jim Ryan, CEO of PlayStation, during the PS5 presentation event held at CES 2020, Las Vegas
In conclusion: both the new consoles and the video games planned to accompany its launch could be delayed because of this virus, provided that the breaks in the production chains extend for more weeks or if, for more grievance, the spread of the coronavirus extends to North America and Europe on a large scale. "30-50% of the artistic creation of Western video games is done in China," says the source. The hardware, however, is "about 100%" manufactured in China.
How coronavirus is affecting the videogame sector
The spread of the virus, which already reaches epidemic levels, has already killed more than 560 people and infected more than 28,000 people; according to the latest official information reported from Beijing (via El País). Nintendo, the other major hardware manufacturer in the sector, has made it official that both Nintendo Switch and other peripherals derived from its current machine will have international supply problems for the coronavirus. Also Private Division, editor of the expected video game The Outer Worlds for Nintendo Switch, has indicated that the port being made by the company Virtuos Games is delayed until a date yet to be determined.
Source | Press (Business Insider)