11 million next-gen console sales by 2014, analyst predicts

EEDAR's Jesse Divnich believes Sony and Microsoft will shift a substantial number of next-generation consoles before New Year.

"EEDAR is forecasting over 11 million consumers to transition to the next-generation by the end of 2014 (PS4 and Xbox)," the analyst told GamesIndustry.

"By the end of 2017, this will balloon to over 50 million consumers, all willing to spend money to consume quality content."

Interestingly, Divnich's comments actually arose as part of a discussion on the number of developers switching to mobile and tablet. The analyst said supply will soon outstrip demand for quality mobile games, while the console market will be hungry for new content.

"It's a market that independent developers shouldn't ignore and one that the console manufacturers must foster to gain independent support," he said.

"Independent developers cannot afford to operate with blinders on. Independent developers should be looking across every platform while they think about new game development. Just like how the PC industry changed, consoles are changing too and there are more opportunities than ever before to make great games that can also make great money."

The PlayStation 4 is expected in the 2013 holiday season, although we're not holding our breath for a global simship just yet. The next Xbox hasn't even been announced, although we're expecting details in May ahead of a full reveal at E3 2013.