Strauss Zelnick, head of Take-Two, discussed the potential that the next generation of consoles hold for gaming during a live stream of the Bernstein Annual Strategic Decisions Conference.
Take-Two is the parent company of Rockstar Games and 2K Games, with blockbuster titles like Grand Theft Auto, Red Dead Redemption, Civilization, BioShock, and Borderlands, falling under its remit. Around 25-minutes into the discussion, Zelnick is asked what a new generation of consoles means for the development process.
“We're very excited about what the new consoles will allow our creative folks to do. We've obviously been developing with new technology for some time, so we're very familiar with where that can take us. [Generally,] what new technology in our business allows us to do is better memory, better graphics, more fidelity, more beauty, more subtlety, more speed, more richness and more depth, and more characters.”
RELATED: Sony PS5: News, rumours and reveals
Comparison between 2010’s Red Dead Redemption and 2018’s Red Dead Redemption 2 was used as an example of the rapid improvement that has already occurred when moving from the PS3 and Xbox 360 to the PS4 and Xbox One. In particular, Zelnick focused on the realism that more powerful consoles can bring in the form of enlivening a game’s world.
“Background interactivity in Red Dead Redemption 2 versus Red Dead Redemption is huge. There’s way more going on just as you inhabit the world, there’s way more that you can do, and there’s way more that can come into your world proactively [therefore] there’s more realism.”
This focus on the realism of events, rather than graphics, is seen by many as key to developing a truly immersive gaming experience. However, as Take-Two’s CEO went onto say, the graphics too, are likely to take a huge step forward in the years to come. Discussing the prospect of photorealism, Zelnick suggests that “systems will be so sophisticated that you won’t be able to distinguish between interactive entertainment created on a computer and live-action entertainment caught on a camera.”
We already know that the power offered by the upcoming PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X consoles is greatly improved over the current generation, with many highlighting the consoles similarities to powerful gaming PCs.
Combing this knowledge with Zelnick’s comments regarding more complex worlds and realistic graphics, this next generation of consoles seems to be geared to offer up some exciting, innovative, and immersive gaming experiences.
The PS5 and Xbox Series X are both scheduled for release by Christmas 2020, though no dates have been announced.