Speaking to Bloomberg TV, Electronic Arts’ President of Labels Frank Gibeau has finally come out and said what he has hinted at for months now, Microsoft and Sony’s next-gen consoles will launch “in about a year’s time”.
The statement came during a conversation about Madden 13‘s successful launch at a time in the console cycle where there is typically market fatigue. Gibeau casually dropped the next generation console bomb, saying:
“The new hardware is going to be coming out in about a year’s time, so we’re right around this period in time when the market’s going to slow down and then you have a new game changer coming with all new technology, all new hardware, and another growth period,”
After the statement he was asked what Microsoft and Sony were calling the unannounced systems, to which he replied, “I don’t know what they are calling them, I’m under non-disclosure so I can’t comment too much about what they’re specifically doing.”
Obviously, the NDA is not overly binding.
Gibeau’s statements to Bloomberg about Microsoft and Sony’s next-gen consoles comes less than a month after his Gamescom reveal that he has “seen” both the Xbox 720 and PS4. With EA execs (Gibeau specifically) repeatedly suggesting that the current generation of consoles is almost over, I’m positive that official statements from the console manufacturers will come shortly after the start of the new year.
The real question is if gamers are excited to drop a ton of cash on new systems, or if this will be an extremely long transition to next-gen consoles.
I know I’m not all that enthusiastic about turning off my Xbox 360 and PS3 for the last time. My guess is that I’m not alone.
Source: VG247
