We’ve become comfortable with our discs, with our controllers and gaming consoles. We’ve allowed our imaginations to fall asleep. Sure we’re seeing virtual reality making a comeback, but that’s not enough. That’s just refining a technology that was far too ahead of its time when it was first introduced (anyone remember the headache inducing Virtual Boy?) What I want to know is where’s the innovation? Going from cartridges to discs: that’s a leap. Moving from 2D to 3D graphics: that’s a leap! Really, really pretty graphics: that’s nice, but we’re overdue for another leap in gaming innovation, and my money’s on the PS5. There’s growing evidence that the PS5 could be a streaming console powered by the cloud. Join us as we look at the evidence, and how a console like this could function. Major Players in The Game Industry Believe Streaming is The Next Big Thing Ubisoft is one of the largest publishers in gaming, responsible for hit titles like Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry, and The Division. While they don’t have specific control over how Sony will structure the PS5, their CEO, Yves Guillemot, has offered some insight into a potential future for game consoles. On IGN’s Daily Fix, a new quote from the CEO was revealed: “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.” So, while Ubisoft’s CEO doesn’t think the PS5 may necessarily ditch hardware entirely, he does believe that this will be the transition gaming takes into the future. Yves was also one of several major players in the industry who contributed to a recent Kotaku article on streaming high-end games Todd Howard also spoke with the Kotaku author over at The Guardian. Gamers will know Todd as the head of Bethesda’s game studio and the father of titles like Fallout and The Elder Scrolls. As it turns out, Todd is indeed a fan of streaming as a potential next step for gaming: “I think streaming technology is definitely coming, and it’s gonna make people’s access to games infinitely easier. You’ve seen it happen to music and movies​, and it’s definitely gonna be happening to gaming,​ and I think it’s a great thing.” While Sony has been offering cloud streaming with PlayStation Now, the head of Xbox, Phil Spencer, has been talking about the technology a lot since E3 2018. From his perspective, streaming allows them to reach gamers on any device, not just a console. He predicts a future where game creators can reach billions of people. He makes a good point in the aforementioned Kotaku article when he says that some studios resort to simple match-3 games instead of immersive story-driven experiences because they need to develop for mobile platforms and the hardware limitations within. Phil Spencer’s second quote in the article is also very interesting: “That … Read More