It might not be as front and centre as graphical processing power and hard drive speed, but it's looking more and more like audio, both through headsets and sound systems, is becoming a battleground for the major games consoles at the moment.
Sony's making a relatively sizeable bet on it, devoting some focus on the upcoming PlayStation 5 to the dedicated 3D audio chip it's got on-board and showing off what that can sound like during its impressive reveal livestream.
Microsoft might not have built in a new system for the Xbox Series X, but it's clearly paying attention, too. It's just opened up a new trial to a very exclusive number of members of its Xbox Insider program, the Alpha Skip Ahead ring, letting them try out a new audio system, DTS:X for their headsets on Xbox One.
The DTS Sound Unbound app is available through the Xbox Insider Hub for those who qualify to use it, with unlimited 24-hour trials of the software available during the test period. It should unlock spatial audio for your headset that rivals or even surpasses the already available Dolby Atmos for Headphone, provided that games you try out actually support spatial audio.
We've been saying since forever ago that people should absolutely try out headset audio for their gaming if they have the chance - not only is it almost always more immersive and high-fidelity than most people's sound systems, it's also nice and considerate to anyone you share a house with.
We're looking forward, in fact, to playing The Last of Us: Part II in the next few days with a headset on for added terror and to swerve the issue of any particularly harrowing sounds confusing our neighbours.
Anyway, more details of the Xbox Insider release can be found here, if you want to see what else is getting tested.