EA: Old Console Cycles Were “Painful;” Micro-Upgrades “Great”

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At the Nasdaq 35th Investor Program Conference in London, Electronic Arts Chief Financial Officer Blake Jorgensen talked about the mid-generation console refresh by Sony Interactive Entertainment and Microsoft.

Jorgensen mentioned that in previous console cycles investors always tried to identify the peak earning period, because moving from a generation to the next involved huge expenses to upgrade. Consoles were also very customized, with Xbox and PlayStation being very different and built on customized chipsets, and they were very difficult to program for early on.

At the same time, there was no compatibility between cycles, so people simply stopped buying games for the older consoles. According to Jorgensen, it was a “painful cycle.”

At the end of the last cycle, things were a bit different from Electronic Arts. They were down to two engines, and updating only two was a lot cheaper than 25, the company was controlling costs a lot better, and hardware was more standardized. Yet, software was not compatible across generation.

Today, both Microsoft and Sony are starting to do micro-upgrades more often, allowing compatibility of games across those upgrades, making it look a lot more like a traditional PC market versus specialized console market. Jorgensen thinks this is “great for the industry, great for their [Sony and Microsoft’s] production, great for software costs, and great for the consumers.”

That said, Jorgensen believes that we’ll still see consoles getting more and more powerful, so the older software “just won’t be fun to play,” but “the whole notion that investors had of the cycle is gone away.”

Sony Interactive Entertainment just launched the upgraded PlayStation 4 Pro on November 10th, following a form-factor refresh of the standard PS4 with the CUH-2000 model. On the other hand, Microsoft released a smaller and slightly improved unit with the Xbox One S, and plans to release the much more powerful “Project Scorpio” next year.

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Related Forum: Xbox Forum

Source: http://www.dualshockers.com/2016/11/30/ea-ps4-pro-scorpio-sony-microsoft-console-cycle-painful/

Comments

"EA: Old Console Cycles Were “Painful;” Micro-Upgrades “Great”" :: Login/Create an Account :: 12 comments

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RickPosted:

I actually agree, even if it means more consoles in a cycle like a phone I guess

DusknoirPosted:

its so hard upgrading to another xbox one or ps4 when you already have one.

BondsPosted:

I have really enjoyed this new generation of consoles because it seems that the developers are listening to what the consumers want. The Scorpio is what I will be getting at launch because I love the idea of such a powerful console.

9ntyPosted:

Nick EA is the worst server provider ever.


Pretty much that. lol I'm not a fan of EA to be honest.

RobPosted:

I'm lookin forward to the Xbox Project Scorpio. Definitely going to buy it when it comes out

TomPosted:

Mickers
KyloCrux I'm just hoping EA fixes their damn servers.


Never going to happen, they haven't a clue .


completely agree, worst servers there possible is of any company.

NickPosted:

EA is the worst server provider ever.

TelePosted:

I'm happy enough with ea with their games and ea access.

SkatesPosted:

Yea definitely great for the consumers since you know we make you guys all the money so you're gonna wanna keep us happy. I can't wait for the Scorpio.

MickersPosted:

KyloCrux I'm just hoping EA fixes their damn servers.


Never going to happen, they haven't a clue .