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Ubisoft wants PS4 and Durango to have a shorter lifespan than PS3 and Xbox 360

NewsPublish Date 22/02/2013 - 10:19am GMT

Seven years has been too long to wait, says CEO Yves Guillemot.

Watch Dogs will be one of the PS4's launch period titles.

The advent of the PS4 and next Xbox is well overdue and the wait for their successors should not be so long, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot has told MCV.

Obviously pleased that the next generation is finally here, Guillemot expressed excitement at what his teams can achieve on the new consoles, but warns that platform holders must not wait so long to launch the generation of machines which follow.

"No we don't want to wait seven years for the next one," he said.

"We will have cloud gaming that will improve over time, for sure. And we certainly have enough novelties for a few years.

"The consoles have taken a long time, we've been saying it for a long time. It's really once those consoles come that we can let creative people more risk, and they feel they can take more risk because new consoles can be more open.

"They have so many features that they can play with. It's easier to be a creative person with new consoles, because after four years of people using all the capacity, it's harder to be innovative. With PS4, we will see new ideas and new ways to approach gamers. And that will excite consumers and excite creators."

For Ubisoft the PC-based architecture of PS4 means games will look good from the get go.

"Because the teams are working hard on their projects, I think we will see good things from the start," he said. "Sure, in two years engineers will figure out how to do a lot more. But these machines are easier to build on than before, so we should be able to reach their potential quicker."

Source: MCV

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User Comments

EverTheOptimist

Surely a shorter cycle is going to be much more expensive for those creating games too? At some point they'll need to invest in new ways of making titles that harness new tech they haven't yet learned. I think 7 years is fine, but if it became shorter they should make consoles recyclable for those that don't keep them - ever-changing technology must be one of the biggest contributors to sky-high waste piles.

Posted 08:31 on 25 February 2013

Neon-Soldier32

If console cycles are going to be shorter then, obviously, people will buy more consoles and thus they will need to launch cheaper to attract interest which means lowered specs resulting in lower differences between generations. No thanks.

I think that this generation has been the perfect length, if not a little too short. I mean, look at all the titles from 2009 - 11, they were brilliant; Uncharted 2/3, Batman AC and so on.

Posted 11:52 on 24 February 2013

clangod

The solution is something closer to what Valve and Xi3 have lined up with the Piston. As the next generation consoles will essentially be PC hardware, I think modular solutions are definitely the way of the future for consoles.

Physically, the consoles have longevity for the most part so allowing users to upgrade and swap out components would be an ideal solution for dedicated users.

Problems would arise with people not so tech-savy, but I expect it could be simplified to be no more demanding as buying the right toner cartridge for a printer. If you want the best performance, you pay for those components. Not a dedicated gamer? Buy the 'light' or entry level version and upgrade parts once you're hooked.

In tech terms, buying a console is buying obsolete hardware. But so long as there are developers out there pushing the boundaries with the tech, there's no reason a console life span can't amount to several years. 2013 will see some fantastic current gen games particularly PS3 exclusives which has been around for several years.

I mention the modular solution with regard to cost involved for the consumer. For Sony and MS as companies this wouldn't be the most attractive answer because people wouldn't necessarily have to buy an entirely new system each time there was a hardware upgrade or system failure. I'm not sure what Yves expects consumers to do when forced to upgrade every couple of years. We aren't all bathing in expendable income. Nor could we expect that our investment will be supported for a duration. Again, shortening the console life span is buying obsolete hardware. WHERE'S THE BACKWARDS COMPATIBILITY?

TLDR: I would personally like to see the consoles survive a good few years before we're force fed a new system. The only exception would be a modular console solution. And a significant price drop to boot.

It reads as though Yves is talking purely from a tech development perspective. Which is fine. But can I really expect the technology to advance so quickly that there is any real significant innovations or improvements they can make besides jamming a better GPU or more powerful processor in the box?

So yeah, not convinced.

/rant.

Posted 10:32 on 24 February 2013

Endless @ Wido

The current generation is hamstringed by hardware restrictions imo, 7 years is an incredibly long time in technology. I am well ready for new hardware. I cant afford it. but I'm ready for it. Chances are I'll stick with PC for quite some time.

Posted 13:33 on 22 February 2013

Wido

Woah, woah Yves Guillemot. The next generation of consoles isn't fully here yet at all. Sure, Sony have showed us what to expect with the PS4 and told us the spec, but will the PS4 live up to what its been aimed at?

I don't get why he is already wanting a shorter life cycle. I rather have the next generation of consoles to last longer than the current gen. The current gen still has a lot to offer in my opinion.

Posted 11:54 on 22 February 2013

rbevanx

I think all round I would rather have the consoles last longer as it tends to take them a year and a bit to get to grips with the new tech and power isn't something I look to now that much with a console.
I look more for function and games on that console.

Posted 11:16 on 22 February 2013

MJTH

Yeah, that is, no offence to new consoles, probably for the best. The casual market of phone apps, has crept up on the regular games market. Due to the lack of new consoles for the longest period of time, market growth has begun to stagnate. The lack of primary console power, held game development back, and allowed the phone market to get to a period where it's getting the upper hand.

Hopefully once the other next gen consoles come out we can finally kick start the games business again.

Posted 10:47 on 22 February 2013