PS4, Xbox One launch titles reviews lower due to cross-gen publication, says Ubisoft exec

PlayStation 4 and Xbox One games will inevitably score only middling reviews, according to Ubisoft boss Tony Key, because of the need to launch on older hardware as well.

Speaking to GamesIndustry, Ubisoft's senior vice president of sales and marketing said it's natural that PS4 launch reviews and Xbox One launch reviews aren't knock outs.

"Right now, all publishers are transitioning their development resources. For a game like Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag, most of the sales are still going to be on current generation platforms. We can't make a version for PlayStation 4 or Xbox One that's so wildly different that we can't market them together," he explained.

"So, for now, developers and designers are focused on making a game that works really well on all of the systems - but as we transition resources to the next gen, it's going to be more difficult to do that because the power of these machines is going to allow so much more creativity."

Despite the middling reviews, Key is optimistic about this generation, and expects software sales to take off more quickly than at previous transitions.

"Our feeling is the installed base of these machines will be much faster to take hold than previous generations. In the first couple of years, we expect double the installed based of previous generations," he said.

"The reason why is: the last cycle was longer, so there's a lot of pent up demand."