As ex-PlayStation boss suggests consoles are becoming "irrelevant," veteran analyst predicts they'll become "more open," but "Nintendo will be the absolute last people to do that"

Nintendo Switch with Super Mario Wonder on screen — (Image credit: Future)

While one former PlayStation boss suggests we're nearing "a point where the console becomes irrelevant," one analyst believes the focus for hardware going forward will be for it to become "more open," even if one of the big three games companies might lag behind the rest in making that jump.

In a recent Eurogamer interview with the former president and CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment America, Shawn Layden, it was suggested that this so-called irrelevance might not arrive in the next console generation, but the one after that. GamesRadar+ ran this idea of it not mattering what hardware or content a console has access to by Mat Piscatella, executive director of games at market research company Circana, who believes that "perhaps in an ideal world that would be the case."

Piscatella continues: "I think you're going to see more and more flexibility over time." He gives the hypothetical example of Xbox two generations on, "in 2034 or whatever it is," and asks: "Is that device going to be portable? Hybrid? Is it going to be able to remote play other types of games? Is it going to be able to cloud stream stuff from a PlayStation service? I mean, who knows, right? Like, probably? It's possible. Is it not going to matter at all? Probably not. I think it will matter, especially for things like, you know, the operating system driving it, if it's a Windows type device, is it a Linux. SteamOS is getting into the mix now in a big way, moving towards third-party devices."

Despite this predicted flexibility, he doesn't think "it's going to be that easy," as he suggests that "people are going to try to protect their IP and their revenue streams by putting some limitations and guardrails on it," but overall, "I think it will become more open." Not everyone will jump on this idea as quickly as others, though, he speculates: "Nintendo will be the absolute last people to do that, to go that way. For them, you're probably looking 2040 something, if not later. But, you know, crystal ball stuff, and that crystal ball is real hazy."

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I'm GamesRadar+'s Deputy News Editor, working alongside the rest of the news team to deliver cool gaming stories that we love. After spending more hours than I can count filling The University of Sheffield's student newspaper with Pokemon and indie game content, and picking up a degree in Journalism Studies, I started my career at GAMINGbible where I worked as a journalist for over a year and a half. I then became TechRadar Gaming's news writer, where I sourced stories and wrote about all sorts of intriguing topics. In my spare time, you're sure to find me on my Nintendo Switch or PS5 playing through story-driven RPGs like Xenoblade Chronicles and Persona 5 Royal, nuzlocking old Pokemon games, or going for a Victory Royale in Fortnite.