Former Xbox boss believes ‘serious questions’ are being asked about future of consoles

Former Xbox, Sega and Electronic Arts executive Peter Moore believes that “serious questions” are being asked about the future of console generations.

The future of console platforms has become a hot topic in the games industry recently, after Microsoft announced plans to bring four games to PlayStation 5, and Sony indicated it will implement a more aggressive PC strategy following lower-than-expected financial results.

And with Xbox console sales disappointing, and Sony claiming PlayStation 5 is entering the latter half of its lifecycle, Moore believes that the platform holders could be debating whether another console cycle is worth billions of dollars in investment, compared to focusing on multiplatform and cloud initiatives.

Peter Moore launched the Dreamcast and Xbox 360 consoles during his previous industry roles, as well as heading up EA Sports.

“I think it’s a real serious question that’s being asked I’m sure in Tokyo, in Redmond, Washington, in Kyoto,” he told IGN. “That’s what everybody’s working on right now, because when you start off that next generation, you’ve got to be ready to absorb billions of dollars in losses.

“And is the industry, given all the layoffs and everything we’re going through right now, is the industry ready for that? Look at Sony laying off 900 people — a lot there in the UK. My two eldest daughters work at EA, they’re all right, but they’re always looking over their shoulder.”

He added: “So I think that in answer to your question, those are the questions that are being asked right now and it’ll all be tied around, do we continue to develop silicon? The role of AI, what does that mean? You can’t look away from that.

“Are these companies willing to go another round of multi-billion? And at the same time you’re gearing up for another cycle where gamers may not embrace the console and just say, you know what? I don’t need this, times are tough. I’ve got my phone, I’m enjoying what I’ve got on my phone. There’s plenty of games I can play.

“Failing that, of course I have my PC or my Mac, I can go do whatever I need to do there. And do I really need to be spending what could be five, $600 on a bespoke piece of hardware just to play games? So both the companies and gamers themselves are asking this question.”

Moore said the future of console generations had come in to question during the backend of the Xbox 360 generation.

“Yeah, the Xbox 360, during the back end of that. You have that concern. If you were thinking then of something that launched the mid-2000s, what does the end of the decade look like and how long the cycles were — usually five, six years — and what does it look like in five, six years? Are we going to need another?

“Well, the answer ultimately was yes, but the questions were being asked then. And why? Because you’ve got faster, cheaper broadband, more ubiquitous in just about everybody’s home.”

Just like in those days, the industry veteran said he was confident both Sony and Microsoft will be questioning what a future console iteration would look like, and how it could benefit consumers.

“What I’m saying is the questions are being asked, as they have been for the last 20 years. Are we ready to gird our loins financially for battle and all of the cost of development, silicon development?

“What is it that PS6 can do that PS5 can’t that would make people jump from PS5, or same with Xbox, same with Switch, right? God forbid it’s just incremental. And I think that the companies are also looking at that. What can we do to extend this life cycle?

“And then if you’re Microsoft and you’re Phil Spencer, you’ve got Satya Nadella coming in and saying, alright, what is the future here and how does this play into the biggest strategy of cloud with Azure, with AI? What are we doing with AI game development? How do you make your games faster, cheaper, with less people? These are all the questions I think are being asked.”