Crytek boss predicts death of consoles; wary of Vita, Wii U and streaming tech

Cevat Yerli doesn't see Crytek expanding onto new hardware frontiers any time soon.

"The console will displace the PC, you hear it again and again. On the contrary: I suspect that the next-generation of home consoles will be the last one," the CEO told Golem.

The CEO said that the market is changing, making gamers more eager for easy-access, short experiences, and predicted that tablets, smartphones and browser-based games will put "massive pressure" on the next-generation of consoles.

"Of course there are still hardcore gamers who sit for an hour to install and then play for eight hours. But these consumers are becoming the minority," he said.

"Today's gamers buy a game for 99 cents, download it and play it for 15 to 20 minutes per day over a period of two months - and then they move on."

As such, Crytek is pretty leery about consoles in general, with Yerli noting that Crytek has no pland for either the Vita or Wii U.

"For the Wii U, there will be games that run on the CryEngine, but from licensees," he said.

"The Playstation Vita is currently too uncertain for us as a platform. Technically, I find the Vita very appealing, and have fun with it - no question. From a business perspective it is a bit too late."

As for streaming games services, Yerli doesn't believe they're ready to meet the demands of hardcore PC gamers. Although he applauded those companies who have amde the leap, Yerli said he doesn't think streaming is viable on current Internet technology.

"Hardcore gamers don't want [streamed games], but rather the hardware that they like - namely hardcore PC and consoles," he said.

"They want no compression artefacts, latency and the like. If one is streaming a game like Crysis, it does not look good. It's like watching Avatar in low-res on YouTube."

Crytek has a full development slate over the next few years; Crysis 3, free-to-play shooter Warface, Homefront 2 and Kinect-exclusive Ryse.

Thanks, GoNintendo.