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Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot has claimed that the length of the current console generation has damaged the games industry.
And with Wii U launching this week and at least one of Xbox 720 and PS4 likely to launch next year, he’s calling on platform holders to make sure the next generation is over far more quickly.
"I think that what has happened is the transition has been very long," he told Polygon. "You know, in the industry, we were used to changing machines every five years. This time we are in the seventh year of the 360.
We need new consoles and at the end of the cycle generally the market goes down because there are less new IPs, new properties, so that damaged the industry a little bit. I hope next time they will come more often."
As well as helping to avoid the prolonged lull that normally accompanies the end of a console cycle, more regular reinvention also offers publishers and developers more chance to be creative, Guillemot argues.
"Transitions are the best times, are the best ways, to make all of our creators take more risks and do different things," he added. "When a console is out for a long time you don’t take as much risks on totally new IPs because even if they are good, they don’t sell as well.
"So, the beginning of the machines is always a good time for innovation."
