Ubisoft Co-Founder Predicts the Next Console Generation Will Be the Last

It’s been a while since the PS3 and Xbox 360 gave way to the PS4 and the Xbox One, and not that long since the PS4 and the Xbox One got hardware updates called the PS4 Pro and Xbox One Scorpio. But now that we’re about halfway through 2018, there’s rumors and whispers among many that both game-making giants are likely planning the release of new consoles sooner rather than later. Which is an exciting/terrifying prospect, to be sure, but talking with Variety, Ubisoft co-founder and CEO Yves Guillemot said that while a new console generation is likely, it’ll probably be the last one we ever have.

That’s a pretty bold claim, eh?
 

“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.”

That’s a perfectly reasonable and well-thought out plan… assuming you’re Microsoft, and you also have the PC market cornered and don’t really need a console. For Sony and Nintendo, who are exclusively in the console game and thrive on their exclusives, that’s probably a much less attractive idea. But it does have its upsides.
 

“It is going to help the AAA game industry grow much faster. We have to work on the accessibility of those games, to make sure they can be played on any device, but the fact that we will be able to stream those games on mobile phones and television screens without a console is going to change a lot of the industry.”

It would make sense for Ubisoft to make this claim, considering they're basically putting all their eggs in the "games as a service" model. If it pays off, though, we'll have to see...