As far as fan reaction is concerned, Sony's messaging on the PS5 has lagged well behind what Microsoft has done with the Xbox Series X.

Meanwhile, Sony has not given gamers much reason to be excited about the PS5 other than revealing some specs with the DualSense controller, a logo, another logo, and a questionable long-winded deep dive. However, comments from CFO Hiroki Toki during a recent investor conference call suggest that Sony is still convinced that its next-generation console will be top of the line.

As reported by Bloomberg's Takashi Mochizuki, Totoki was asked to respond to the perception that the PS5's marketing is inferior to that of the Xbox Series X. He said. Totoki said, "I would like to wait for PS5 sales to make that judgment."

Toki may be making a serious plea to wait for both models to hit store shelves before making a decision on which is the winner, but behind his statement is the suggestion that Sony is bullish on PS5 sales, despite some unpopular marketing tactics.

And it's hard to fault the Japanese tech giant's confidence: at its CES 2020 press conference in January 2020, Sony reported that the PS4 had sold more than 106 million units since its launch in 2013; as of January 2020, Xbox One sales is reported to be 46 million units (according to VGChartz), which means that Sony's current console has nearly double Microsoft's installed base.

However, the fact that Sony and Microsoft have gone back and forth over the past few generations of consoles may be due to each console manufacturer being a bit overconfident about their success at the time. the Xbox 360 got off to a much stronger start than the PS3, which launched a year early, partly because Sony launched at the somewhat ridiculous price of $599 (remember the "get two jobs" fiasco?)

Microsoft made a similar mistake at E3 2013, revealing that the Xbox One would include a Kinect sensor and would therefore cost $499 revealed that it would cost $499. When Sony revealed just hours later that the PS4 would be priced at $399, it seemed as if the Xbox One's fate had already been decided.

Regardless of which next-generation console comes out on top this holiday season, we can at least expect both to launch on schedule. Mochizuki previously reported that the PS5 is on track for a Holiday 2020 launch despite production problems related to the coronavirus, and Microsoft has given similar assurances for the Xbox Series X.