The next generation of console gaming is looking to be a promising one, holding the promise of new technologies and avenues for both, hardware and software. Developers have already been talking about how excited they are about the potential of these new avenues, some of which have already started bearing fruit, and should only grow in popularity as time goes on.
Recently, we held an interview with Headup Games, the developers of the upcoming atmospheric horror title Silver Chains, and we asked them about their expectations from the PS5 and the Xbox Scarlett (or whatever Microsoft chooses to call the successor to Xbox One). According to Mark Aldrup, head of development at the studio, the upcoming generation of consoles is one that can bring about “some of the most major changes in console history”, owing to the fact that the main players in the market clearly seem focused on things such as game subscription services and streaming services.
“The next generation might contain some of the most major changes in console history,” Aldrup said. “With game streaming, game subscriptions services, disc-free systems etc. all being viable options for the next generation consoles, we’re very curious to see what Sony and Microsoft (and Nintendo at a later stage) have up their sleeves. From a development perspective, we just hope that there will again be a statically defined technical system that lasts for a couple of years. This has always been one of consoles’ biggest advantages – developers can concentrate on optimizing the game for one piece of hardware instead of making sure that it runs on a variety of different specs (as on PC or Mobile).”
Given the growing presence of streaming services in the industry and how much the most major players in the market seem to be paying attention to it – from Google to Square Enix to Microsoft and many others (reportedly even Apple) – it’s hard not to agree with that. Certainly, at least in terms of game distribution, the next generation of consoles is looking like it’s going to change things up considerably.
When that happens is anyone’s best guess, but most analysts believe that the PS5 and the next Xbox will be launching by 2020 at most. We’ll keep you updated as soon as there are new developments, so stay tuned. Meanwhile, our full interview will Aldrup will be going live soon, so keep an eye out.