John Riccitiello, CEO of Electronic Arts, has joined the growing number of industry bigwigs ushering in the arrival of next-generation consoles in 2013.
Speaking with CNBC on stock concerns within the firm, the executive said he expects the current decline of U.S. hardware sales to be stimulated by the arrival of new games consoles, “probably” next year.
“A major catalyst going forward, and the most important catalyst going forward is the visibility on next-generation consoles, because that NPD data – that minus 10-25% that you’ve been seeing – that can and should be reserved out at some point, probably starting next year," he said.
This, of course, ties in with predictions made by many industry commentators over the past 12 months or so, who believe Sony and Microsoft will announce – and possibly release – successors to the PS3 and Xbox 360 in 2013.
In fact, both platform holders are hotly-tipped to unveil fresh hardware at E3 next year, with a release targeted for holiday 2013, or possibly early 2014. PS4 is believed to carry the codename Orbis, while the new Xbox is supposedly named Durango.
We’ll be sure to keep you in the loop on any developments regarding Sony’s plans for next-gen as we get them. Stay tuned to PSU.com for more details.