EA Labels president Frank Gibeau recently teased that he’s seen the successors to the PS3 and the Xbox 360. He clearly has some insider knowledge, and he spoke openly on changes in the console market coming over the next year.
“We’re into the sixth or seventh year now of this generation of hardware and so it’s a mature market. In terms of [software sales] fatigue, I consider it more of a mature market, a stable market. [Sales] flatten out a bit towards the end [of a console cycle]. Typically a transition year before new hardware comes out you see that flattening effect inside of the business,” said Gibeau. “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.”
When pressed for details, like if the new consoles will be called Xbox 720 and PlayStation 4, Gibeau responded, “I don’t know what they’re calling them, I’m under non-disclosure so I can’t comment too much about what they’re specifically doing.”
Source: Bloomberg