Halo on PlayStation: The End of the Console Wars?

Last week, Microsoft announced Halo: Campaign Evolved — a remake of the first installment in the iconic series. The game will launch not only on Xbox Series X/S and PC but also on PS5. Considering that earlier this year Sony’s console received Forza Horizon 5 and Gears of War: Reloaded, it turns out all major Xbox franchises have lost their exclusivity. Does this mean that the rivalry between PlayStation and Xbox, which lasted for over two decades, has officially come to an end? Has Sony won? Will Microsoft exit the console market? Let’s find out.

The current radical shift of the Xbox brand toward multiplatform releases didn’t happen overnight — it’s the culmination of a long process that began at E3 2013.

That’s when Microsoft’s gaming division introduced the Xbox One and announced features that infuriated gamers: a permanent internet connection requirement, restrictions on resale and disc sharing, a heavy focus on TV and multimedia, and a $499 price tag due to the mandatory Kinect bundle. That disastrous presentation became Sony Interactive Entertainment’s moment of triumph, as the company had spent most of the previous generation trailing behind with the PS3.

Just hours after Microsoft’s show, PlayStation held its own presentation, mocking Xbox One’s policies while emphasizing that PS4 required no online connection and allowed disc sharing and resale. The final nail in the coffin was the PS4’s $399 price announcement.

In the weeks following E3, Microsoft rolled back most of the controversial policies, and Don Mattrick, the executive behind Xbox One’s disastrous strategy, was fired. But the damage was done — public perception had already turned. When both consoles launched, PlayStation 4 quickly pulled far ahead. Final estimates put sales at roughly 2:1 in favor of PS4. Many Xbox 360 owners switched to Sony and never looked back.

According to Phil Spencer, Microsoft lost the most crucial console generation:

Spencer made an important point. The eighth generation of consoles was transformative: digital game sales began to surpass physical ones. Players built libraries of dozens of titles — ensuring loyalty to their chosen platform. A PS4 owner would hardly want to repurchase all their games on Xbox Series X. Why bother, when PS5 offers full backward compatibility?

This is one of the key reasons PS5 immediately outsold Xbox Series X/S by roughly 3:1 at launch. PS4’s massive success created a loyal and engaged community around the PlayStation ecosystem. And newcomers without any prior console experience were more likely to buy the same device their friends had.

After two generations of disappointing hardware sales, the Xbox team began exploring new revenue sources like Game Pass subscriptions and acquiring more studios to ensure a steady flow of exclusives. In 2020, Microsoft bought Bethesda Softworks for $7.5 billion, followed by Activision Blizzard in 2023 for $68.7 billion.

It seemed that with new studios and IPs like Call of Duty, Xbox could easily catch up to PlayStation. Yet things turned out differently. Due to regulatory pressure, Microsoft Corporation and Sony Interactive Entertainment signed an agreement ensuring Call of Duty would remain on PlayStation consoles.

Although not officially confirmed, analysts believe Microsoft’s $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard drew the attention of the company’s upper management, which began expecting higher profits. According to Bloomberg, Microsoft set a target profit margin of around 30% for Xbox — roughly 1.5–2× higher than the industry standard of 17–22%. This demand led to mass layoffs and game cancellations, including Perfect Dark. It also explains why Game Pass prices recently rose by 50%. And, ultimately, why so many Xbox franchises are now appearing on PlayStation.

With all this in mind, it’s easy to conclude that Microsoft might soon leave the console business entirely, following SEGA’s path and focusing solely on publishing. However, for now, the company doesn’t seem ready to abandon hardware completely. Still, the current Xbox Series family is expected to be the last generation of traditional consoles from Microsoft.

Insider Jez Corden describes the next Xbox as a Windows 11-based PC. Much like the upcoming handheld ROG Xbox Ally, the device will feature a custom interface optimized for console players, called Xbox Full Screen Experience. Users will be able to switch to full Windows mode to access competing stores like Steam or Epic Games Store — or even run programs such as Adobe CC or Microsoft Office.

The price of such a system is unlikely to match that of a console. Sarah Bond, president of Xbox, said the next Xbox will be “very premium, very high-end, with a curated experience.”

It’s hard to predict whether an expensive branded PC can find an audience among console gamers. And Microsoft could still change course several times or even scrap the hardware entirely before the next generation, expected in about two years. Consistency has not been the company’s strong suit lately.

What Microsoft will almost certainly continue to push is the idea that “every device is an Xbox.” Under this philosophy, devices like smartphones and PCs can act as Xbox consoles via cloud gaming and Xbox Play Anywhere — buy a game once, play it everywhere.

That depends on how you define victory. Has Sony Interactive Entertainment managed to push its main competitor out of the race? Arguably yes — though largely because Microsoft stumbled on its own strategy. Still, Sony itself has changed drastically in the process and continues to evolve. Today’s PlayStation division isn’t the same as it was ten or even twenty years ago.

Modern Sony no longer believes in exclusives as fervently as it once did. Releasing PC ports of PlayStation titles has become standard practice. But more interestingly, the PS5’s overwhelming lead seems to have made Sony feel unthreatened by Microsoft’s platforms, opening the door to further multiplatform expansion. In August, the co-op action game Helldivers 2 launched on Xbox Series X/S — another symbolic fall of the Berlin Wall for the industry. And that’s just the beginning: in July 2025, Sony Interactive Entertainment posted a job listing for a Director of Multiplatform strategy mentioning Xbox, Steam, Nintendo, and mobile devices.

Like Microsoft, PlayStation’s team is seeking new revenue streams. Developing AAA games is extremely expensive: Marvel's Spider-Man 2 cost $315 million to produce. Meanwhile, Sony wasted significant resources greenlighting several GAAS projects only to cancel most of them. Of those, Concord made it to release but flopped so hard its servers were shut down just two weeks later. Its development budget is rumored to have been between $200 million and $400 million.

Sony’s studios spent years working on unreleased multiplayer titles, which partly explains why players feel there are fewer single-player exclusives this generation. The paradox is that without serious competition from Xbox, there’s little pressure to fix anything. SIE can afford to make mistakes or take unpopular business decisions. After all, when franchises like Call of Duty are now de facto associated with PS5, exclusives matter less.

In that sense, PlayStation may have formally won this console war — but it’s unclear whether that’s a good thing for players. Competition keeps companies sharp. Without it, there’s a risk of complacency, as seen with Sony’s overconfidence in the mid-2000s. So while playing Halo on PS5 is undoubtedly a positive development, it might also foreshadow more questionable industry trends ahead.

As Xbox fully embraces the multiplatform model and Sony may follows suit, Nintendo will remain the last traditional console maker. The company is unlikely to ever abandon exclusives — they’re the core of its business model. Franchises like Mario, Zelda, Pokémon, Animal Crossing, and Splatoon drive the majority of Nintendo hardware sales. The October release Pokémon Legends: Z-A sold over 5.8 million copies in its first week — a number most Sony projects could only dream of. Meanwhile, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe has surpassed 65 million copies sold, largely fueling the original Switch’s incredible success.

With Halo now heading to PS5, it’s fair to say the console war between Microsoft and Sony is over. Whether that’s good or bad depends on your perspective. Gamers benefit from more games being accessible across platforms — no need to buy a new system for a handful of titles. But the end of this rivalry might slow industry progress and revive the arrogance once seen in Sony Interactive Entertainment’s mid-2000s era.

Still, where one console war ends, another might soon begin: rumors suggest that in 2027 PlayStation will launch not only its next home console but also a hybrid handheld system to compete with Nintendo Switch 2. For now, the two companies target slightly different markets and don’t directly compete — but if the leaks are accurate, that could change very soon.

What do you think about Halo’s announcement for PlayStation 5? How significant is this moment for the industry? Share your thoughts in the comments.