For the first time since 2013, PlayStation and XBox are launching new flagship video game consoles; the Xbox Series X and Series S consoles will be released on November 10 with the PlayStation 5 available November 12. Here are 6 social media insights, quantifying anticipation by gamers around these new systems.

Insight #1. The Audience Is More Interested In Both PlayStation And Xbox During The Pandemic. 

There were 31,876,122 Tweets that mentioned PlayStation between March – September 2020, which was a 72% increase from March – September 2019. Similarly, there were 18,087,097 Tweets mentioning Xbox between March – September 2020, which was a 53% increase from March – September 2019.

On social media, far more people talk about specific video game consoles than video games in general, both before and during the pandemic. For example, there were 3,848,239 Tweets that mentioned the phrase Video Game between March – September 2019, which only increased by 12% to 4,294,521 Tweets mentioning Video Games from March – September 2020.

Insight #2. There’s Been 519% More Twitter Conversation Around the PS5 Compared To The Next Gen Xbox 

Using both the volume of Tweets and Twitter sentiment as a measuring stick, there’s far more excitement around the upcoming PlayStation 5 than Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S consoles. There were 1,068,753 Tweets mentioning the PlayStation 5 between September 29 – October 29, 2020 with Twitter sentiment around those Tweets being 38% Positive and 8% Negative. In comparison during the same time period; 172,614 Tweets mentioned either Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S; with sentiment around those Tweets being 32% Positive and 7% Negative.

Insight #3. The Expected Inventory Shortage Is Taking Up A Small Percentage Of The Conversation Around Next Generation Consoles 

Already sold out again at Walmart. I heard Target was also up today. #ps5

— The Ultimate Jedi (@OBE1plays) October 5, 2020

Both Microsoft and Sony have warned that due to there being more demand than supply, many people will be unable to purchase a PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X on the launch date, with those issues expected to extend into 2021. So far, that’s not dominating the conversation around the upcoming consoles. Between September 29 – October 29, 2020; there were 430 Tweets that mentioned the Playstation 5 and either the phrase Sold Out or Shortage, just 0.04% of the overall Tweets mentioning the PlayStation 5. During the same time period, there were 302 Tweets that mentioned either the Xbox Series X or Xbox Series S and the phrase Sold Out or Shortage, which is 0.17% of the overall Twitter conversation around those consoles. 

Insight #4. Console Size Emerges As Possible Achilles’ Heel Of PS5 

You know what, I made this handy picture of the #PS5 versus our sun as a size comparison.

Here we can see indeed, that the #playstation5 is pretty small in comparison. pic.twitter.com/hFo53LjWmN

— RedGamingTech (@RedGamingTech) October 4, 2020

While the social media conversation around the PlayStation 5 is overall very positive, one area where there’s been more pushback is around the size of the console. The PlayStation 5 is physically the largest video console in modern history, and between September 29 – October 29, 2020 there were 4,960 Tweets mentioning the size of the Playstation 5, with sentiment around those Tweets being 20% Positive and 19% Negative. In the same time period, the Size of the smaller Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S consoles was only mentioned in 2,937 Tweets, with sentiment around those Tweets being 16% Positive and 8% Negative 

Insight #5. Spider-Man: Miles Morales Is The Most Anticipated Game On PS5 

The first of TWO vids today. Brand new Spider-Man: Miles Morales footage for PlayStation 5 emerged last week, giving us a closer look at gameplay. @dark1x and @Dachsjaeger talk ray tracing and image quality in a new DF Direct: https://t.co/ApXLrXisA3 pic.twitter.com/mV5E6JJSoq

— Digital Foundry (@digitalfoundry) October 25, 2020

Between September 29 – October 29, 2020 there were 24,399 Tweets mentioning both the PlayStation 5 and the upcoming title Spider-Man: Miles Morales, the most Tweets around any title that will be available at launch. During the same time period, Demon’s Souls was mentioned in 18,484 PlayStation 5 related Tweets while Godfall was mentioned in 9,190 PlayStation 5 related Tweets. 

Insight #6. Assassin’s Creed Valhalla Is The Title Most Mentioned Around The New Xbox 

New Story Trailer from #AssassinsCreedValhalla
The game will be available the 10th November at launch of #XboxSeriesX💪 and #XboxSeriesS👍
Also the only consoles were you can play it at 60fps that day is on both Xbox Series(4K@60fps and 1440p@60fps) 😎 pic.twitter.com/dE1Kj0UrCs

— ✖️Astal✖️ (@astaranx) September 29, 2020

Meanwhile, between September 29 – October 29, 2020, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, which will also be available on PlayStation 5, was mentioned in 3,023 Xbox Series X or Xbox Series S related Tweets, the most for any title that will be available on the new XBox models. In the same time period, The Falconeer was mentioned in 2,592 Xbox Series X or Xbox Series S related Tweets and Yakuza: Like a Dragon was mentioned in 1,202 Xbox Series X or Xbox Series S related Tweets. 

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