Ubisoft predicts next gen in "two to three years"

Ubisoft UK's head of marketing has predicted that the next generation of home consoles from Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo will be released within the next two to three years.

"There's absolutely some amazing product coming. The new hardware, if it's not new platforms coming, the things like Move, Kinect, 3DS, these will all reinvigorate the market," said Murray Pannel to GamesIndustry.biz sister site Eurogamer.

"And I do see in the next 12 months if not growth then stabilisation, before what I assume to be a new transition into new consoles probably in the next two to three years," he added.

Despite this prediction, Pannel was confident that the introduction of new hardware such as Kinect and Move could ensure strong sales of current generation software for several years to come.

"It's difficult to say what's coming next, because we're not with Sony or Nintendo or Microsoft. But there's still life in all those machines," he said.

"I genuinely think games can get better. Experiences can get more rich and varied, and the new platforms, Kinect and Move, can help enhance that, certainly."

Despite increasing speculation from analysts none of the console manufacturers have given any official indication of when a new home console might be released. While Sony's Shuhei Yoshida did make a reference to future hardware earlier this week, this is thought more likely to be a portable product.

"It would be nice [for the first parties to start talking about new hardware]," Pannel said. "I don’t think it's a requirement right here, right now, because there's enough new tech coming to the market," said Pannel.

"I would love to see new technology coming. I'm a tech guy and I'm a gamer. But I think in the broader mainstream audience, it's probably not necessary until there's more to show on that stuff," he concluded.