The days when consoles endure the same 13-year lifecycle as the multi-million selling PlayStation 2 are likely over, Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe (SIEE) boss, Jim Ryan, has said.
Ryan’s comments came during an interview with EDGE magazine (via PSLS), where he was quizzed if we’re likely to see further hardware upgrades during the current cycle in a similar manner to the PS4 Pro and Xbox One X.
“It’s a very interesting question. The cultural phenomenon of regular updates to smartphones and tablets is without question, perhaps subliminally, coloring mindsets. And the days of a 13-year PlayStation 2 cycle will almost certainly never repeat themselves. But equally, a platform is a very delicate ecosystem, and if that platform is to succeed, you’ve got to give those who make content for it the chance to recoup on it. At the end of the day, like it or not, these are businesses.
“We struck – and Microsoft has as well – a good balance of innovation within the confines of the platform. Also, services which operate agnostically of particular hardware, like PlayStation Now for example, are something you’re going to see more of. I think we’re only six months into PlayStation 4 Pro, and it’s too early to tell. The Xbox One X hasn’t launched yet. I don’t know if this is the way forward or not.”
PS5 release predicted for 2019
Traditionally, console cycles have last around five years, at least back in the days of the original PlayStation. However, while the PS2 indeed stuck around for 13 years, we still got a successor out the door six years after its launch; PS3 bucked this trend by going seven years until the PS4 was announced, making it by far the longest console cycle of modern times.
Even so, companies such as Nintendo still churned out fresh hardware within the traditional time frame, with the Nintendo Switch arriving less than five years after its predecessor.
As for the PS5, analysts such as Wedbush Morgan’s Michael Pachter have regularly predicted that Sony’s next-generation system will launch in 2019. If this indeed is the case, then it will be out six years after the arrival of the PS4, meaning we’ll have a slightly shorter console cycle than the previous generation.