Xbox and PlayStation have a lot to prove

Things are bad out there. Despite 2026 shaping up to be a great year when it comes to actual games , it couldn’t really be worse for the people that make them or the industry as a whole. Hardware prices keep going up , layoffs have shown no signs of stopping , and even big-budget titles backed by large corporations can feel precarious . That all makes it a somewhat awkward time for Summer Game Fest, a weeklong spectacle of events that kicks off on Tuesday. Splashy announcements won’t do much to stem the negative sentiment around the industry. But given the challenging state of console gaming in particular , both Microsoft and Sony have an opportunity to show players just why they should buy these increasingly expensive boxes. Let’s start with Sony. On June 2nd, the company will livestream its latest State of Play with “over 60 minutes of news and announcements for games coming to PS5,” headlined by Insomniac’s Wolverine , which launches in September . Sony is dealing with two major issues at the moment. One is that the PS5 is simply too expensive: A base console cost $499 at launch, and it has since jumped to $649 , while the most expensive model is a whopping $899. That steadily rising price has had a major impact, with PS5 sales dropping by nearly 50 percent year over year . …