Completely plausible
Ubisoft is riding high. They have multiple multi-million franchises just chilling, perpetually earning more cash from ongoing DLC and updates. They’re also typically at the forefront of requesting better hardware from console manufacturers to make that all happen, but at the current moment Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot thinks that there’s only one more generation left before it all moves to the cloud.
Speaking to Variety, Guillemot states: “I think we will see another generation, but there is a good chance that step-by-step we will see less and less hardware. With time, I think streaming will become more accessible to many players and make it not necessary to have big hardware at home. There will be one more console generation and then after that, we will be streaming, all of us.”
Okay so there’s a lot to unpack here. Guillemot is a revered battle hardened executive, and when he has something to say about hardware, it benefits everyone to listen. I know a lot of people aren’t going to accept this reality, but it could very well happen. I mean, it’s basically being utilized in small pockets right now, it just needs to catch on in a larger scale. And why wouldn’t publishers want it to happen? Instead of tossing Microsoft, Sony, or Nintendo a chunk of their profits they can just pocket it with their own cloud-based software platforms. Origin, uPlay — all of those little micro-services can just pair up with smaller streaming boxes as technology advances. The worst part of all this? At that point you’ll basically be renting content and will own nothing.
Some folks, especially those who are in rural areas will be left in the dust (which sucks), but if the money is there, the publishers will be there too. Gaming is going to get complicated in five or six years, but I take solace in knowing that we’re all going to go through that shift together.
Ubisoft Believes Next Gen Is the Last for Consoles as Microsoft Looks Beyond Platforms [Variety]
Published: Jun 8, 2018 11:00 am