Exclusives matter.. Even just the idea of good exclusives will get people to buy. Forza is the perfect example, which makes this whole argument so funny. I literally only bought a series X for FH5, because I was done with Halo after 5. (Ironically Infinite was my favorite Halo since 3 though)
The thing is, because of brand loyalty and historical triumphs, people will ride with Sony this gen even if the exclusives haven’t hit like that. People just believe that eventually the games will come, as long as you’re on Sony. Anyway thats how I think, even though I’ve had all three consoles since 360/ps3/wii gen. So the sales for PS5 already has the “good games” argument baked into it, even if the games released haven’t been up to snuff of previous generations. Sony just delivers. Usually. Xbox trinity of games have just not been as good. As much as I liked Infinite, it’s not on the level of Sony’s top tier 1st party titles. I haven’t heard of Gears in like 5 years. Forza is still great, but it wasn’t enough anymore.