Crytek: PS4 and Xbox "720" in 3 to 4 years

By Robert Purchese Published 19 August, 2008

Alongside the London Olympics perhaps.

Crytek boss Cevat Yerli reckons Microsoft and Sony will release new consoles in three or four years' time.

"The PlayStation 4 and Xbox '720' will arrive in 2011 or 2012, we think," said Yerli during the Games Convention Developer Conference in Leipzig, watched by GamesIndustry.biz.

"But this is just our estimate - we don't know. And even if Microsoft and Sony told us, I couldn't say because it would be under NDA.

"But we think in three to four years' time, although there are good reasons why it should be 2010 already...but we'll see," he added.

Yerli, speaking about "The Future of Gaming Graphics", said Crytek plans to release a new version of its in-house engine (CryEngine) in 2012, but thinks resolutions of 1080p and 60 frames-per-second will rule the roost until then.

He also believes graphics cards and CPUs are on a collision course, with the former to pick up more general computing tasks and the latter to handle more parallel operations - something software such as DirectX 11 will push towards the end of 2009.

That's a view shared by many, including NVIDIA's Roy Taylor, who said as much when we interviewed him back in June.

CryEngine 2, the power behind Crysis and upcoming standalone expansion Crysis Warhead, took 25 big-brained adults four years to make, and was built upon CryEngine, which took 20 people three years to create.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (62) Latest comment 1 year ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Dizzy #1 4 years ago

    >But this is just our estimate - we don't know

    Classic ;)

    I guess it depends more on the market than on the technology. The Wii has proved that you don't need to be the technological number one to be the top selling dog. So if the market sales go down... we (Wii?) might get a new toy.

  • Hugh.G.Rection #2 4 years ago

    Agreed Dizzy.

    '1080p and 6ofps to rule the roost' ... 'Direct X 11'

    Seriously what the hell. Few games run Direct X 10 now nevermind 11, and only when Wipeout HD arrives will we see if 'proper' (and i use that term loosely) 1080p and 60fps is even possible this console gen, never mind 'ruling the roost till 2012'

    Also he reckons the next gen should only be 2 years away? Yeah right .. two years from now we'll only just be getting computers capable of running your damn game douche
    Edited by 2 at 19/08/08 @ 12:18

  • peterfll #3 4 years ago

    "but thinks resolutions of 1080p and 60 frames-per-second will rule the roost until then"

    And how many of these do we have in 2008?

    Super Stardust HD
    Geometry Wars
    Wipeout HD

    Where are the "big hitters"?

  • michaelius #4 4 years ago

    Heh so many wasted time on Crytek engine :D

    And it can't even scale properly on multi GPU setups - which you would think be top priority considering Crysis requirments.

  • menage #5 4 years ago

    I think a lot of gamers will sit it out longer than that.

  • Chufty #6 4 years ago

    The next gen will come quickly because this gen has been so competetive and so successful at the same time.

  • mingster #7 4 years ago

    /gazes into crystal ball

  • ps3owner #8 4 years ago

    I wonder if I have to start saving for it now, considering the pricees of the current gen.

    it will probably cost double of what it costs now and it will be able to do my washing, remotely. actually, I can do that already. it's called a "wife". works rather well :)

  • hiddenranbir #9 4 years ago

    Is this the same guy that thought piracy forced Crysis to not sell as well as he thought? Despite not everyone had a PC capable to play it? Is it? Is it?

  • Zomoniac #10 4 years ago

    And how many of these do we have in 2008?

    Super Stardust HD
    Geometry Wars
    Wipeout HD

    Where are the "big hitters"?

    GT5P.

  • jack_klugman #11 4 years ago

    If we're not streaming holograms into our brains on beams of light by 2010 colour me disappointed!

  • kestral #12 4 years ago

    best now tell them we'll skip a generation that will save them a lot of money.

  • peterfll #13 4 years ago

    GT5P when it doesn't drop frames, tear or drop to 30fps during replays. OK, so it's not the "finished product" but still...

    Someone was saying recently, you know, this gen was all about HD and the 1080p holy grail, but we probably won't reach that as a general benchmark until the next gen.

    Based on the evidence so far I'm inclined to agree.

  • ps3owner #14 4 years ago

    re-thinking about it now... I might just stick with what I have and go for a new PC in 2010 ;)

  • DrDamn #15 4 years ago

    @peterfll
    I thought the 1080p comment was regarding PC gaming.

  • Matfink #16 4 years ago

    This HAS to be wrong - PS3 is a 'ten year console', and Sony said so!

  • DrDamn #17 4 years ago

    @Matfink
    The ten year thing includes overlap. The PS cycle is ~6 years before new hardware.

  • Weezer #18 4 years ago

    Four years? I haven't had ANY serious use out of my PS3 yet... although it does play dodgy Xvids quite well.

  • IronCladChicken #19 4 years ago

    @DrDamn
    I bloody hope not, 1080p is pretty low-res for a lot of PC gamers (and has been for a good couple of years now)

  • pommak #20 4 years ago

    @Matfink

    Sony might sell PS3 for ten years but it doesn't mean they won't release PS4 before that.

  • DrDamn #21 4 years ago

    @IronCladChicken
    So what are you all displaying this "higher" resolution on then? Search dabs and they 4 monitors with a higher res (2560x1600) and they start at just under £1000. (I'm not counting 1920x1200 as that is too similar to 1080p). You saying "a lot" of PC gamers spend over £1000 on the monitor?

  • Darren #22 4 years ago

    "... resolutions of 1080p and 60 frames-per-second will rule the roost until then."

    I bet they don't! ;)

    Let's face it not every game runs at 60 fps now and many don't even manage native 720p rendering despite being classed as high-definition games by Sony and Microsoft alike.

  • ps3owner #23 4 years ago

    @ DrDamn.

    Dabs is shite ;)

    try this... Alternate

  • penhalion #24 4 years ago

    I ain't saying jack on this one but, Never Doubt Anything *cough cough* loose specs and timeframe*cough cough*

    /walks quietly away.

  • DrDamn #25 4 years ago

    @ps3owner
    Again anything over a 1080p-like resolution is well over 1200 euros. I don't see any evidence to hold up IronCladChicken's claim - particularly as he claims it has been this way for a couple of years.

  • moggsy #26 4 years ago

    @ Darren

    So are you saying the likes of Halo 3 on the 360 and GTAIV on the PS3 aren't HD then? They certainly look a lot better than their previous gen counterparts which is all that matters surely?

    1080P is seriously overrated in the living room anyway - it's a waste of processing power imo as you need a seriously large screen or seriously small living room to notice any improvement over 720P.

  • Dark_Stranger #27 4 years ago

    I predict that within 100 years computers will be twice as powerful, 10,000 times larger, and so expensive that only the five richest kings of Europe will own them.

  • ps3owner #28 4 years ago

    @ DrDamn,

    sure. didn't mean the resolution thing, meant prices on Alterante, they are better than on Dabs... if you are in the PC marked that is. prices include tax + shipping already ;)

    and yes. not sure what the chicken is on about.

  • mcbi4kh2 #29 4 years ago

    @moggsy

    Did you pick the two worst examples on purpose?

    edit:Yes you did, I just re-read your post and I get what you mean now.
    Edited by 2 at 19/08/08 @ 13:44

  • Collymilad #30 4 years ago

    10 year life span my arse.

    If "Xbox 720" comes out in 4 years, Sony will HAVE to respond before the 10 year mark - if they think otherwise they are living in the clouds.

    Gonna be funny.


    Also, 1080p is not overrated - if used properly. I know most people can't do this but anyone thats played...lets say, Assassins creed on a 720p tv then a 1080p tv can see it's a pretty big difference, and i dont even think AC supports 1080p natively.
    Edited by 1 at 19/08/08 @ 13:41

  • mcbi4kh2 #31 4 years ago

    @Collynilad
    10 year life span my arse.

    If "Xbox 720" comes out in 4 years, Sony will HAVE to respond before the 10 year mark - if they think otherwise they are living in the clouds.

    Gonna be funny.

    As other people have said, there will be overlap between ps4 and ps3. Sony have released new hardware every 6 years or so.

  • penhalion #32 4 years ago

    The future is 1080p. This is dictated not by games consoles but, by HD TV broadcasts. It is quite amusing to see some people on this forum trying to make out that consoles will up the resolutions to 2048 by 1535. While on a monitor they may well allow scaling to this resolution. No games will be written in anything near that. Nor will any TV manufacturers waste their time creating sets that can display greater than the maximum broadcast sizes available. Don't even mention that you'd need a new HD format to store a movie at that resolution. What the next gen will almost certainly do is standardise 1920 * 1080 as the native resolution of games from day one.

  • ps3owner #33 4 years ago

    "What the next gen will almost certainly do is standardise 1920 * 1080 as the native resolution of games from day one."

    wasn't that supposed to happen this gen?*






    *exluding Wii

  • DrDamn #34 4 years ago

    @Penhalion
    +1 Sweet spot for this gen is 720p. You just need to do some basic sums to see that neither of the current consoles could really do 1080p without making serious sacrifices in the game delivered - regardless of claims. So fine for XBLA or PSN but not going to realistically happen in general.

  • no #35 4 years ago

    Every time there's a major shift in console technology it takes a generation for it to 'bed in'. Think 2d and the difference between NES and SNES games. Or 3d and the change between PS1 and PS2 games. This time around the big change is to HD (if we're ignoring the Wii for now). I think it'll take until the next set of consoles until developers get to grips with proper HD, and can start doing it well with most of their games.

  • DrDamn #36 4 years ago

    @no
    I don't think HD was the big change 3D has been in the past. It's much more a basic extension of what they did previously. Far more a leap this generation for the bigger consoles has been the extra power in the boxes and how best to get the most of that.

  • MattyD #37 4 years ago

    If I bought a PS3 tomorrow and ended up having to upgrade again in four years time I'd be plenty pissed.

  • Olemak #38 4 years ago

    Although both current HD consoles are gimped in different ways (and not really very HD after all), I predict that we'll see a new iteration of the Xbox first.

    But the thing is: what are these next-gen consoles really supposed to do? Higher framerate, yes, but 60 fps is really the limit for what you need as a gamer. There is not a lot to gain (or notice) from going higher than that, and 100 is pretty absolutely the roof with the current display technology. Which won't be replaced in 4 or even 10 years.

    Likewise, 1080p resolution is also pretty much as good as it's going to get for a long while. We have to go to the next generation of displays to see any demand for going beyond that, and that is much farther off than 4 years. Maybe 10 years is more like it.

    So the point is: what are the next-gen consoles going to do, apart from offer "better graphics" that would only be noticable on displays that won't exist (at least not in shops and homes) any time soon? I can see the need to make an Xbox that comes with wifi and HDD built in, but that is hardly enough of an improvement to warrant a new generation.

    So - what would the next gen have to do, and when will we need it to do it?

  • JaysonG #39 4 years ago

    If it took you this long to buy a PS3 why would you buy a PS4 at launch?

  • bodypopper #40 4 years ago

    Sony has said it envisaged a 10 year life cycle for PS3 if I remember and I can't see much need for PS4 in the next few years even if Blu Ray goes belly up.

  • Dizzy #41 4 years ago

    >So - what would the next gen have to do, and when will we need it to do it?

    Hopefully it will have the computational power to really do procedural asset generation in (nearly) real time. If not, don't bother IMHO ;)

  • Apologie #42 4 years ago

    i bought a new PC (BOARD RAMPAGE, CPU (QUAD-CORE) 3.20 GHZ, 4GB RAM, MEMORY DDR2 1066, ATI HD4870 + HD4870 POWERCOLOR IN CROSSFIRE)... I GET 21.783 IN 3D MARK06 (A GOOD SCORE IN MY OPINION).

    the point here is, if in 3 years i cannot run every game in these setup, i will no longer buy a Pc for gaming, and will dedicate exclusively to consoles, these rig cost me 1500 EUROS... oh and by the way i have a monitor HP 24, wich allows me tu run everything 1900x1200 at 85hz.

    wonder what you guy's think of these machine, opinions much apreciated.
    Edited by 1 at 19/08/08 @ 15:44

  • ps3owner #43 4 years ago

    @apologie

    1500 euros? in total? where? which Quad core CPU are you on about? 3.2 GHZ? this one here: Core 2 Extreme QX9770? because just that CPU costs ~ 1.150 euros alone...

  • Apologie #44 4 years ago

    Faximus

    yeah, you'r right mate, i only bought the PC because the one i was using stoped working... given that fact i decided to buy a durable piece of hardware... i think software companies are influenced and dominated by hardware companies, they program for future hardware to keep consumer buisy trying to update every year... you can see it by Crysis, the high settings can be available in windows XP as well, yet they "downgraded" to only run in Vista, just to sell the Op, such a shame... they don't waste any time in optimization and that's why consoles are a much cheaper/viable solution for gamers, they get what they pay with no bullshit... i aready regret having sold my PS3 to help buying the damn Pc. (i will buy it again as soon as it's price is droped).

    I run COD4 Full Hd (1900x1200) 16x antialising, anisotropic filter max, textures max etc... at a minimum of 91 fps, UT3 with everything max at 170 FPS, and Crysis at 1900x1200, Hi9gh Settings With no Anti-Alising at 30 fps sometimes lower... get the idea???

    oh and by the way, i overclocked the processor from 2.88, to 3.20 GHz... sorry i haven't said it early.
    Edited by 2 at 19/08/08 @ 16:40

  • DrDamn #45 4 years ago

    @Apologie
    "oh and by the way i have a monitor HP 24, wich allows me tu run everything 1900x1200 at 85hz."

    You crazy fool - don't you know that's lo-res and a couple of years out of date already? ;-)

    Edited by 1 at 19/08/08 @ 16:41

  • moggsy #46 4 years ago

    @ Olemak

    There's more to a new console than frame rates and resolution, look at the Wii for an example. Plus as I said, 1080P is a big fat waste of time for the living room so any higher resolutions would be an even bigger waste of time, unless we're going to get full wall size displays (yes I know you can buy a projector but this isn't practical in most people's living rooms).

    The next gen will have more powerful processors and more memory - that's a given. It won't be used to improve display output though, it'll be used to throw around more poly's on the screen and improve AI routines etc.

    If I were MS or Sony I'd be looking at evolution rather than revolution with backwards compatible high on my list of features. Use the gently gently approach - keep hardware costs down, don't worry too much about spending a fortune on software to take full advantage of the machine on day one etc. A Xbox 360+ or a PS3.5 if you like. Allow developers to release games which work on the current gen and next gen machines, but take advantage of the extra power of the next gen machine somehow.

    I don't think Sony or MS can afford to start completely from scratch with there next console like the have with the current gen. I also don't think the developers can afford to do the same either.

  • Apologie #47 4 years ago

    @DrDamn

    low res and out of date..., what do you mean??? are you serious mate? :)

  • Dizzy #48 4 years ago

    "I don't think Sony or MS can afford to start completely from scratch with there next console like the have with the current gen"

    The whole plan of the 360 is based on this. The next version of the 360 will almost certainly be based on the CPU that is in the 360 right now and it will almost certainly contain an ATI card ;) Maybe we will get some kind of physics chips extra or some kind of physics special configuration with GPU/CPU.

  • moggsy #49 4 years ago

    @ Dizzy

    Are good, I didn't realise that was already MS's intention.

    What about Sony though? They seem to love to throw the baby out with the bath water and start from scratch with their hardware. Hasn't worked out for them so far this time (major hardware losses) so I would hope they will learn from this going into the next gen.

    Can the PS3's architecture easily scale into the next gen though or should they look at changing it into a more PC-centric design like the 360 (i.e. abandon the Cell)?

  • electrolite #50 4 years ago

    Waiting 4 years would be the smartest move the games industry has made in a long time

  • ps3owner #51 4 years ago

    @moggsy

    the PS3 is scalable, the PS4 will be identical, apart from the cell which will have all the cores accessible.... + it will cost £800 until they can lower costs that is. maybe slim it down.

    I reckon it will take the programmers 10 years to get to grips with the architecture

  • Apologie #52 4 years ago

    @AlieNick

    in my opinion you'r wrong... both Microsoft and Sony will present powerfull consoles in the next gen, what you will see is much more 1st party developers programing games like Banjoo and LBP.

    @noface

    "of spending so much money for PLAYING GAMES? no, i don't get it... "

    I spent all that money because i needed to buy a new computer, and given that fact i decided to pay a little bit extra.

  • assache #53 4 years ago

    Has anyone thought about investing in technology that can make my eyes see at the resolution he mentions? I'm bloody struggling to see at 720p & 30fps!

    Specksavers.. My arse!

  • yagisencho #54 4 years ago

    It's a shame Crysis is so unoptimized and buggy (especially when patched - that's right - don't bother patching). Because it's a fantastic game - worthy of my preorder. I'm finally giving it a full play-through and am enjoying it far, far more than I did Halo 3.

    I die a little inside each time it crashes though. *sniff*

  • Ryze #55 4 years ago

    @Olemak

    1080p @60fps for the majority of games. 4x-8x Blu-Ray drives as standard, hopefully more than 1Gb main memory and more for the GFX.

    Motion control with pointing device as standard - with Wiimotionplus esque (or better) functionality, possibly incorporating more use of the camera to improve immersion with motion capture.

    Games will hopefully have more real actors starring in them, and will edge closer to Beowulf in terms of visual quality. This will spur the continued penetration of Gaming into mainstream culture, as many more of the years biggest blockbusters (More than GTA5 & Halo 4) will take place on games consoles. Hopefulyl the action / family blockbuster summer movie will become the afterthought as opposed to the tie-in game.

    Much better and more mature social interaction features - again using a combination of the powerful graphics hardware and processing, 10-100Mbit/s Internet connections where available, cameras and motion control combined with 'focussed' social networks ala Facebook (where you only interact with people relevant to you depending on what you're trying to accomplish). Of course, many simply like to just text or chat - so I'd be surprised if services like skype didn't find their way to these consoles during the current or next cycle.

    With a bit of luck they'll also try to entice people to buy these consoles by integrating yet more useful home functions such as (mobile phone interoperable video) telephony, music and video stores, home surveillance systems and home applicance control (setting the central heating to run more efficiently, planning sat nav journeys from the living room before sending the info to the car along with video and music for entertainment, etc.).

    Backwards compatibility and retro gaming will be even more important - so Sony had better get it right next time, or sort things out via emulation over the next couple of years - many premium games will be big budget monsters.

    Then there'll always be those simple basic games that capture everyone's imagination - like Wii Tennis, Puzzlequest and Peggle.

    There'll always be the remakes of the old classics like Monopoly, Scrabble and Chess that people will enjoy along with the social enhancements that the new consoles bring.

    Hopefuly they WILL wait until 2012 or longer - as the current consoles are capable of much more if the best ideas are fleshed out and promoted well. The longer they wait, the more capable the next wave will be, and the faster everyone's Internet connection is likely to be by default.

  • Rodney #56 4 years ago

    how exactly would my console interface with my central heating?

    This sounds like a Tomorrow's world prediction

  • Ryze #57 4 years ago

    As soon as I can buy into an open system that allows PC control and monitoring of my main appliances and alarm / surveillance system - then I'm sold once the price is right.

    It's inevitable that this'll happen - Apple will end up doing it eventually if no one else does it better and cheaper first.
    Edited by 1 at 19/08/08 @ 23:31

  • smelly #58 4 years ago

    "two years from now we'll only just be getting computers capable of running your damn game douche "

    The pc i just built cost me $500 (not including monitor - which is running thru my 1080p hd-tv).. thats about 250 quid fact fans..

    It runs crysis fine at 720p with everything at max... If i added another 4800 i'm sure it'd run at 1080p no problems.
    Edited by 1 at 20/08/08 @ 07:59

  • O.Z #59 4 years ago

    If Sony were to launch a PS4 in four years time, Sony would be bankrupt!

  • IkariW #60 4 years ago

    3-4 years? surely that doesn't fit into Sony's '10 year plan'........Ha ha ha.....

    Can't remember who it was, but someone one here said that if they bought a PS3 tomorrow they would be miffed if they had to upgrade in 4 years time??? what the?!!.....have you ever bought a console?? EVER?

    To be honest, I thought MS would let this Xmas go by before they started the rumor mill for their next console.....

    But lets face it, its coming...and soon.

    Personally, I hope that MS does away with disc based systems for their next 'Box'.....everyone keeps moaning on about "Well what about the retail market" Well, again, I think that the retail market has been making too much money from this industry for far too long anyway!

    I mean I walk into a shop, buy a new release for approx £39, 3 weeks later they are selling it 2nd hand 2 for £40. Now, I'm not great at math, but for a retail outlet to be able to do this, the mark up must be massive! In fact, I know its massive! because they will still make a profit on the 'Deals' they do on 2nd hand games!

    Give this money to the people who make the games!!! and by that, I mean developers, not Publishers, they spend too much time trying to 'Design' the games and not enough time actually doing their job roles.

    In any respect, anyone's next console has got to be disc'less, its just too old fashioned now, and when you think about it, the cost of developing a sturdy drive to put in a console must be huge. They run hot, they break, get rid!

    Next console, no disc, download from the console or buy USB games (Just so retail don't moan too much) a Terabite of static memory. Job done. ;)

    Just an opinion of course...the money saved developing old fashioned disc drives and Hard drives could be pumped into putting for memory in the damn things!

    Ik












  • DrDamn #61 4 years ago

    @Apologie
    Nah just kidding - IronCladChicken made some crazy claim that 1080p is lo-res for a lot of PC Gamers and has been for a couple of years. I'm just referring to that. Sounds like a nice rig you got yourself there. :)

    @Farticus
    That stat was just based on hardware not software. I.e. Sony has lost more on selling PS3 hardware than it made selling PS2 hardware. Though I agree Sony have to look at the hardware design a lot more closely next time round and maybe - I dunno so something crazy like speak to developers. :)

  • Kaminari #62 1 year ago

    Revisiting this news 3 years later... Massive LOL.

    And remember when Crytek boss assured the Crysis engine would never run on 360/PS3 architectures? Yeah... Now he knows better -- in huge part thanks to the Crytek devs who certainly proved him wrong.