Generational leaps between consoles They are getting smaller and smaller. You only have to look at the graphical evolution that happened between PS1 and PS2, or even between PS2 and PS3, and compare it to the improvement that PS5 made compared to PS4 to realize this.

It’s becoming increasingly difficult for the average gamer to appreciate the substantial differences between different generations of consoles and the like It will only get worse. In a recent interview, former CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), Shawn Layden, gave his perspective on the subject and made some very interesting comments.

Layden believes it We will never see such a big generational leap again as with previous generations, as the improvements that remain pending in games are increasingly smaller and therefore more difficult to appreciate and appreciate. In this sense, it is clear that one of the last evolutions before us is the creation of perfect human models in games, a goal that sooner or later we will surpass.

Hardware stagnation and homogenization

Hardware-level innovation and performance-level improvements are starting to stagnate in the console world, and the fact that both PlayStation and Xbox use AMD CPUs and GPUs creates homogeneous scene which, according to Layden, complicates the introduction of features and distinguishing features.

This doesn’t mean we won’t continue to see improvements at the hardware level for next-gen consoles, but it does mean that these will be smaller and that we’ll be getting closer and closer to what Layden considers the console’s “final specs,” meaning a kind of hardware ceiling that would be impossible to overcome without profound internal changes.

Goodbye cantilever cylinders?

Horizon Forbidden West looks very good on PS4, to the point where it is difficult for the average user to see the differences from the PS5 version.

At this stage, Layden believes that the end of the console war could be coming, at least on the hardware level. The idea he advocates is that due to this stagnation and homogenization of hardware, there will be a point where PlayStation and Xbox adopt a uniform standarda specific configuration that would facilitate and save development.

The only difference between the two platforms would happen to be in the content i.e. exclusive games which both consoles offer. Cross-platform games would offer the same performance and experience on both consoles, which is already happening in most cases today.

Makes sense, but Layden left the Nintendo Switch out of the equationand didn’t take into account some interesting possibilities like jumping on new designs and reverting to a separate CPU and GPU configuration create more powerful consoles and make a difference. I know it would increase costs and complicate development, but it’s still an option full of potential.

How might this affect PC gaming?

The truth is that this “prophecy” is worrying for PC gaming, as unification and stagnation of this type would affect the development of video games that are based on consoles and can significantly harm innovation technical and playable.

If we look at the evolution that games have experienced in the last two generations of consoles and compare them to PC gaming, we realize something very interesting, that if not for NVIDIA’s push with ray tracing and other important technologies, the differences between console and PC games On a technical level, they would be minimal.

It wasn’t developers trying to innovate on a large scale, It was the hardware manufacturers that tried to provide this support this really justifies the existence of the PC as a more powerful gaming platform and I’m very worried that the situation won’t change, in fact Layden’s words predict the opposite.

We’ll see what happens when Sony and Microsoft launch the PS6 and Xbox Next, two next-gen consoles that will repeat the same design of the current generation and that They will have AMD hardware again.

AI generated cover image.