Electronic Arts predicts Next Gen arrival in 2013 – Video Games Update
Electronic Arts (EA) CEO John Riccitiello believes that Microsoft and Sony will be rolling out their new hardware by next year following the Nintendo Wii-U which will arrive first this holiday.
The majority of the publishers and developers have been against the decision by Microsoft and Sony to extend the current generation console life cycle by adding motion controls. The reason behind this is that most of the top publishers have already started
developing or already completed next generation intellectual properties and games but because of the delay they are unable to get a return on their investment.
Crytek, DICE, IO Interactive, Ubisoft, Epic Games and Square Enix already have their next generation graphics engines ready but right now there are no consoles to fully support them and releasing games on PC exclusively is not that profitable. Thus, the
majority of the developers and publishers are not considering it and just want to wait it out.
EA boss Riccitiello claims that the delay of next generation is one of the main reasons why EA’s stock price has been taking a hit since the publisher has already invested in new next generation IPs, which it chose not to reveal at electronic entertainment
expo (E3). However, since there are no consoles out to launch the games on, the publisher can’t get a return on their investment.
"I think a major catalyst coming forward and the most important catalyst coming forward is visibility on next-gen consoles because that NPD data…that can and should be reversed out at some point probably starting next year," stated Riccitiello when discussing
the NPD data which shows that game sales have decreased overall when compared to last year.
According to the NPD reports, video games sales have decreased by 29 percent where as total hardware sales have taken a much larger hit and are down by 45 percent when compared to those of last year. Riccitiello believes that the decreasing sales trend will
force Sony and Microsoft to launch their next generation consoles by 2013.
Another possible reason is that Nintendo will be bringing its console first to the market, as the Wii-U is slated for release this holiday. It is likely that Microsoft and Sony, not wanting Nintendo to take a significant lead and capture a lot of the market
share, will also work on rushing their consoles out and according to Riccitiello that will be in 2013.
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