Phil Harrison Dismisses Importance Of Hardware In Next-Gen Consoles

The former Sony Computer Entertainment executive sees a new business paradigm driving the next consoles from Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo.

Speaking at the Develop conference in the U.K., Phil Harrison outlined his new vision for consoles.

"I think the era of the console where hardware companies spend $3-4 billion to build a chipset and then it's supported on a tax on the software – that's the business model of the last 25-30 years – that's over," Harrison said. "The new business model is going to become a combination of retail and services – and it's going to be an interesting decision for the likes of Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo. Is the next console race about chips and CPU, clock speed and graphics, or is it about business models and monetization and discovery? I think it's probably going to be about the latter."

As long as the "discovery" element includes great games that continue to stretch the boundaries of interactive entertainment, we're on board.

Harrison, who currently sits on the board of directors for the cloud-streaming service Gaikai, also sees the free-to-play model breaking onto consoles.

"I think in some short period of time, if a Call of Duty game on the next PlayStation or the next Xbox starts life as free-to-play you've got hundreds of millions worth of product development open to the world to play," he said. "Then the industry will change overnight, instantly and forever."

[via Eurogamer]