Ex Sony Europe boss and current COO of Capcom David Reeves has suggested that his former employees may be faced with the notion of snuggling up with lead rival Microsoft in future to combat the ever-rising cost of game development.
Specifically, Reeves estimates that Sony and Microsoft may be forced to team up in the next 10-15 years – in other words, he reckons we’ll see one more console cycle after PS3 and Xbox 360, then the game’s up.
"When you’re on the first-party side, you realise how really, really expensive it is to develop a platform. Whether it’s PS3, or Xbox 360 or even Wii, they cost millions – maybe not billions, but absolutely millions. You don’t know when to put that stake in the ground of technology and move on. You know, say ‘that’s enough’” said Reeves, during a chinwag with CVG.
"Eventually, it may just become so expensive to develop that Microsoft and Sony say, ‘Okay, let’s get together.’ I’d say it’s between 10 and 15 years away. That’s how long I think it will take. I don’t think it will be the next console cycle, but probably the next cycle after that, where you might have something platform-agnostic.”
The executive went on to observe, however, that it might be a case of different companies uniting against the changing market conditions — not necessarily Sony and Microsoft.
"But it might be different players, of course. It might be Google getting together with, dare I say, Microsoft, or Google with somebody else,” he said.
What do you think PSU readers? Do you think Reeves is on to something here? Let us know in the comments section below.