In 2016, Activision made what seemed like a pretty sensible announcement. That year’s Call of Duty, a futuristic off-shoot called Infinite Warfare, would only be released for PC and current-gen consoles. That meant the so-called Gen 8 consoles, the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.The PS3 and Xbox 360 were getting left behind.The Gen 8 consoles had been released back in 2013, and there had already been three annual Call of Duty games released since then that had versions made for both the PS3-era devices and the PS4 ones.By 2015, the Gen 7 version of Call of Duty didn’t even include the next-gen-only campaign mode.For Activision’s top franchise, the period of overlapping console generations had run for three years and was drawing to a close. About a year later, it would end for other big annual series, too.
For Activision’s top franchise, the period of overlapping console generations had run for three years and was drawing to a close. About a year later, it would end for other big annual series, too.If that seems different from what’s been happening this console generation for the last half-decade, well, it is.
Call of Duty had three years of overlapping generational support last time. For this console transition, it’s had more. Last year’s Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 was the fifth consecutive annual Call of Duty game released on current gen consoles (Gen 9: PS5, Xbox Series) and the prior gen.Other annual series have also extended their prior-gen support longer this time than they did previously.
EA’s Madden NFL games were released for the PS3 and Xbox 360 as late as 2016, offering four straight versions that supported the old gen consoles and the new ones. Madden dropped old-gen support in 2017. This time around, Madden games have supported PS4 and Xbox One for five annual editions since the launch of the PS5 and Xbox Series — with no word yet about whether they’ll go to a sixth with their 2025 release.Take Two’s WWE 2K series offered prior-gen gamers three years of overlapping support during the previous console transition before dropping old-gen support in 2017. This week’s announcement of WWE 2K 25 included plans for a prior-gen PS4/Xbox One version, extending the series’ cross-gen support this time around to four years.
Sony’s MLB The Show included PS3 versions for three releases after the launch of the PS4, before dropping support in 2017. Sony went longer this gen and has released four PS4-level editions of MLB The Show since the launch of the PS5. Notably, the final one came out last year. This week, Sony said that this March’s MLB The Show 25 would finally ditch the prior generation and only be released for PS5 and Xbox Series (plus PC and Switch).It’s been a slower, more extended console transition, as many of the industry’s biggest companies have been loath to abandon the previous generation.
Don’t forget the last genLast spring, Sony president Hiroki Totoki said that there were 118 million monthly active users across PlayStation platforms and that “about half of the people are playing on PS4.”This was surprising, if only because of how little older-gen consoles are discussed by game companies and games media once new units launch. People playing PS4 in 2023 and 2024? Sure! It happened a lot. Just didn’t get a lot of press.The PS5 had sold 59 million units by spring 2024, which was not a small number. But Sony still had an equally massive amount of players — around 50 million — happily gaming on the device that preceded it. (Prompted by those stats, last year I collected replies from around 300 people who told me why they had held off on getting a new-gen console. The most common answer: no must-have games to justify the price.