Ex-PlayStation Boss Says Console War Is Over, Pshaws Porting PS Games To Xbox
The console wars have been ongoing in competitive fashion for the last few decades, but that may be changing in the future. Sony's original PlayStation was a significant disrupter of the early battle between Sega and Nintendo, and it continues on its streak today. The ex-boss of PlayStation recently had an interview with Eurogamer, and he expressed some interesting thoughts on the matter.
According to Shawn Layden, he believes the time is near that the war between consoles will come to an end. The "Proprietary console," as he puts it, is likely on its last legs. His reasoning? If you dig into the PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, you'll find more similarities than differences, at least on the raw hardware side.
According to Shawn Layden, he believes the time is near that the war between consoles will come to an end. The "Proprietary console," as he puts it, is likely on its last legs. His reasoning? If you dig into the PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, you'll find more similarities than differences, at least on the raw hardware side.
"We're at a point now where the innovation curve on the hardware is starting to plateau, or top out. At the same time, the commoditisation of the silicon means that when you open up an Xbox or Playstation, it's really pretty much the same chipset. It's all built by AMD," Layden said.
He added that he thinks "we're at a point where the console becomes irrelevant in the next... if not the next generation, then the next next generation definitely."
The desperation of game titles via a variety of platforms has certainly increased in recent times, but platform agnostic games are being represented across the major consoles and PCs. Sony has not only gone over to the PC side, but also reportedly working on a new handheld console, too.
Interestingly, Layden does not think it's worth it for Sony to bring its blockbuster titles to the Xbox platform. He feels the PlayStation has a significant lead and momentum in the field, and thus does not have to cater to the smaller market of the Xbox. He also mentions that people often complain about PC ports 18 months after PS5 releases, so the reaction to the Xbox ports would certainly be more heated, from his vantage point.
One significant point Layden brings up is the high cost of developing a triple-A title, ranking in the hundreds of millions of dollars. This is not sustainable, and thus many games have suffered with less than ready presentation when finally reaching gamers. Innovation has also been affecting by skyrocketing costs, since developers are less likely to try new concepts with so much money on the line.
Overall, the industry needs to adjust it seems, although Nintendo does stick to their own plans more than the other players.
Interestingly, Layden does not think it's worth it for Sony to bring its blockbuster titles to the Xbox platform. He feels the PlayStation has a significant lead and momentum in the field, and thus does not have to cater to the smaller market of the Xbox. He also mentions that people often complain about PC ports 18 months after PS5 releases, so the reaction to the Xbox ports would certainly be more heated, from his vantage point.
One significant point Layden brings up is the high cost of developing a triple-A title, ranking in the hundreds of millions of dollars. This is not sustainable, and thus many games have suffered with less than ready presentation when finally reaching gamers. Innovation has also been affecting by skyrocketing costs, since developers are less likely to try new concepts with so much money on the line.
The question of whether PlayStation titles will ever may their way to the Microsoft Xbox is also an important one. Microsoft has acquired significant studios such as Activision-Blizzard, so that road goes both ways. Franchises such as Call of Duty still have a place on multiple platforms, which shows that Microsoft is willing to remove exclusivity from its Xbox console in order to reach a larger audience. In some aspects, they do not have a choice, since a closed in system would draw the ire of regulators and the legal system quickly.
Shawn Layden also brings up the point that we are not likely to see massive uplifts in performance as we saw with the original PlayStation to the PlayStation 2, for example. This can explain some of the complaints with the PlayStation 5 Pro having only modest gains overall.
Shawn Layden also brings up the point that we are not likely to see massive uplifts in performance as we saw with the original PlayStation to the PlayStation 2, for example. This can explain some of the complaints with the PlayStation 5 Pro having only modest gains overall.
Overall, the industry needs to adjust it seems, although Nintendo does stick to their own plans more than the other players.
