Sony’s philosophy of being focused on gaming with the PS4 has resulted in a platform that is powerful yet simple. While its feature set isn’t very large, there’s one thing it does that’s invaluable: streaming.
Twitch has gone on record to say that 20% of its streamers are PS4 owners. When you consider that the service has been around since June 2011 with a predominantly PC-oriented customer base, that’s a truly significant number.
Sony says that 1.7 million gameplay broadcasts have been on the PS4 since its launch on November 15th, 2013. Tens of millions of spectate sessions have occurred during the same time. It’s safe to say that console gamers have a strong interest in streaming and have had a profound effect on its growth.
Microsoft had to delay its delivery of streaming software for the Xbox One since it wasn’t ready for prime time. This has cost it an important foothold in what appears to be the next big thing in console gaming.