"We are in a sick market for old-school gaming"

BioWare co-founder Greg Zeschuk has expressed his concerns about the future of the console market.

Ever since the traditional games market began its downturn in 2009, many have pegged their hopes of rejuvenation on the new breed of consoles.

And despite Wii U’s comparative failure until this point, common consensus would have us believe that the twin forces of PS4 and Xbox 720 will lead a resurrection of the market and a bright new era.

Zeschuk is less than convinced.

We are in a kind of sick market for old-school gaming – the traditional retail-based gaming – and as much as EA has moved into digital, the boxed stuff is not as robust,” he told Games Industry. While digital is coming up fast it’s not filling in the gaps.

Everyone’s kind of holding out hope for the new consoles, but I honestly don’t think they’re going to be that big a deal. I worry a lot that unless Microsoft or Sony pull something magically out of a hat, it’s pretty much the same old, same old repackaged and I don’t think they’re going to change the dynamic of the retail market.

I don’t see how they can – the market is what it is.

Activision and Blizzard have been doing really well, and they’ve been very disciplined and focused, but how long can they continue? They’ve been relying on a smaller number of titles, but no title works forever, and obviously they will be working hard to replace the games they’re working on.

So they’re probably one of the shining examples of company that’s done well by really doubling down on a very narrow amount of things, and trying some different stuff – I’m actually really impressed with Skylanders.”