EA’s Söderlund expects Xbox One and PS4 successors in five years

Developers may only have five years to get to grips with the new consoles, rather than the eight they have enjoyed with the current generation.

Speaking to Develop’s sister title MCV, EA Studios EVP Patrick Söderlund says he expects the console cycle to begin a lot earlier next time around.

"This console cycle may have gone on a little bit longer than I would have wanted," he said. "At the same time, you have seen games like The Last of Us and GTA V at the end of a cycle, which you would not have expected a few years ago.

"But a five, six-year gap is what I expect going forward."

So that puts the launch of PlayStation Five and Xbox Two around 2018 to 2019. With development costs and times on the rise, it’s time to get cracking with your next-gen smash hit.

Söderlund also told us recently that he did not believe free-to-play has a future on the next generation consoles.