Next-gen consoles can't compete with PCs, says Crytek boss

Whatever Sony and Microsoft have up their sleeves for the next round of console wars, Crytek CEO Cevat Yerli says the next-gen boxes won't be able to compete with existing PCs on horsepower. Speaking with Eurogamer to promote the launch of Crytek's Crysis 3, Yerli said the math just doesn't work out in the console makers' favor.

"We used Moore's Law," Yerli said. "If you predict how hardware evolves at the current speed of evolution, and then take consumer pricing evolution, already two years ago you could see, whatever launches in 2013 or 2014 or 2015, will never beat a PC again."

Yerli said what could be packed into a $2,000 or $3,000 high-end PC should have no trouble besting what Sony or Microsoft put into a mass market machine with a more consumer-friendly price point.

"So, given consumer pricing, and given the cost of production of a gamer PC and the amount of watt of power it needs, which is like a fridge, it's impossible," Yerli said.

While Yerli said he was under non-disclosure agreements about the next-gen consoles, he did say both Microsoft and Sony would make post-launch support for games easier on developers.

"Sony and Microsoft are both looking to improve the process of updating live games and online games," Yerli said. "They understand also that as soon as you launch a game, whether it is retail or digital, you have to service the game. This whole servicing wasn't a thought they had when they launched the Xbox and PlayStation...But it is a thought that has come up recently in the last two years, from changing from games as a good to games as a service. And when games as a service changes the platform has to become a platform as a service platform."

Crytek has been exploring the games-as-a-service approach with its free-to-play shooter Warface, currently in beta testing.