PS4 and Xbox One to have shorter lifespans, claim EA and Sony

EA executive Patrick Söderlund has suggested that the new console generation, which completed its birth with the launch of the Sony PS4 at midnight last night, could be a few years shorter than the last - predicting the launch of the Xbox Two and PS5 as early as 2018.

The previous generation of games consoles, typically referred to as the seventh generation, started with the launch of the Microsoft Xbox 360 in 2005. Sony followed with the PlayStation 3 in 2006, with Nintendo finishing the mainstream console line-up with the Wii in the same year. With the seventh generation only now coming to a close, that's an impressive eight-year lifespan for the oldest of the consoles - something EA, at least, doesn't think will be repeated this time around.

"This console cycle may have gone on a little longer than I would have wanted" EA's Söderlund told industry publication MCV in an interview this week. "But a five, six year gap [between console generations] is what I expect going forward."

A five-year gap would see all three console makers launch their ninth-generation devices in late 2018. It's certainly possible: a move to PC-like hardware from Sony and Microsoft, both of whom use an AMD accelerated processing unit (APU) in their eight-generation consoles, could mean a shorter PC-like upgrade cycle - a market where buying a new graphics card every two or three years to keep up with the latest games isn't unusual.

The continuing use of PC architecture is also likely to make backwards compatibility less of an issue, with newer, more powerful consoles able to run games from the current models.

Sony, too, is hinting at a short lifespan for the PS4. "I think there's reasons to believe that the next [console] cycle might be shorter in markets such as the UK" Sony's Fergal Gara told TechRadar. "It's probably a sign of the times and how much has changed in seven years, but I think the willingness and the appetite to pick up new technology fast has probably changed quite a bit."

Microsoft, for its part, has not offered comment on its expectations for the Xbox One's lifecycle.