The PlayStation 5 and the Xbox Series X/S both launched at quite a hectic time in the world. We were dealing with a pandemic, a worldwide hit that forced so many changes and shutdowns. Fortunately, we’re past that and can look back at what we’ve learned both in terms of the virus and how companies can rely more on remote work to continue keeping productive. Jim Ryan, the CEO who stepped down from PlayStation, had the chance to speak more about this time with Variety.
During their conversation, Jim Ryan noted that during his thirty years at the company, this PlayStation 5 launch was by far his biggest challenge. You have to remember that several factors made the launch incredibly difficult. Despite all the struggles, Jim noted that they had to keep a calm presence to ensure nothing would further hurt the release of the latest-generation console platform.
I’m just so grateful that I didn’t work in a boring industry. It was my job to exude a sense of calm and serenity. Actually, I was there at my dining-room table, head in my hands, wondering how we were going to do this.
Jim Ryan – Variety
Jim said that most of the PlayStation 5 consoles were assembled in China, which nobody could get in then. Furthermore, developers had to stop production and transition to remote work. That ultimately initially cost time and made working through their game projects tough. Meanwhile, there was also retail, as it was tough just getting units shipped into stores since everything was shutting down.
We assemble the great majority of the PlayStations in China, and nobody could get in. Finishing games when developers couldn’t get together and eat pizza and brainstorm about their craft was another thing. And then, the not-unimportant task of selling our product to our consumers when retail was entirely closed.
Jim Ryan – Variety
As a result, it was a nightmare for consumers because once the units got into stores, they were quickly bought up and flipped for massively inflated prices on markets like eBay. So, it might have taken some players far longer to acquire a unit when the platform first launched. Then, of course, dealing with some of the game launches that were pushed further back.
With that said, this was also a big boom for the gaming industry. There were so many more consumers picking up consoles and video games. This was all due to the fact that consumers were starved for new entertainment. Again, because of the social distancing and shutdowns, more people were at home, which sparked the idea of picking up a new console and gaming to pass the time or connect with friends online.
