Traditional console lifecycle to end with PS4 & Xbox One, says Twitch boss

The PS4 and Xbox One are likely to be the last consoles of their kind, Twitch boss Emmett Shear has predicted whilst speaking to the Guardian at London's Changing Media Summit.

"The problem is, the seven-year upgrade lifecycle doesn't work in the face of the two-year upgrade cycles for every other hardware platform," he said. "It's so intrinsically built into how consoles get manufactured and made and the full business model, that I'd be surprised to see another generation."

Rather than wait many years to launch an all-new platform, Shear believes Sony and Microsoft would do better to release updated versions of the PS4 and Xbox One.

"I could imagine a version 1.1 product from both Microsoft and Sony which adds in slightly more speed and slightly more memory very similar to how phones and tablets work today. I think it's going to look more like the mobile phone market over time," Shear explained.