In an investor call on November 7, Guillemot pointed to both the PlayStation 4 Pro and the Xbox One X as console manufacturers’ commitment to continuing with the current generation for a longer period of time.
“As Sony launched PlayStation 4 Pro last year and Microsoft [launched] Xbox One X this year, we think we still have a minimum of two years in front of us before something new is coming,” Guillemot said in the call, though he admitted he didn’t have inside information on the subject.
Of the major third-party publishers, Ubisoft has been especially welcoming to the Xbox One X, with major visual improvements in Assassin’s Creed Origins as well as its older library of games. Next year’s Far Cry 5 will also see enhancements on the system, as will the racing game The Crew 2. The only other publisher to show this level of support for the system is Bethesda, which updated games like Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus and Dishonored 2 with support for 4K resolution.
Still, the enhanced midgeneration approach to consoles will likely hold back major technological advancements in games over the next few years. Though the Xbox One X is capable of running much more taxing games than older Xbox One systems, the X has no exclusives of its own — this means that anything it plays will have to be, for the most part, achievable on the Xbox One and Xbox One S, as well.
If the hypothetical PlayStation 5 and next-generation Xbox were to not release until 2019, this would put our current consoles’ lifespan at about six years, while the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 lasted for eight and seven years, respectively. Nintendo’s Wii U only managed to stay alive for about four years before it was killed by the Switch.
For our full thoughts on the Xbox One X and the PlayStation 4 Pro, check out our reviews.
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