Very few people have been in the video game industry as long as Mark Cerny, the architect of Sony’s PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5. Cerny got his start at Atari in the ’80s, and he’s seen just about everything in the four decades that followed. That’s why it’s encouraging to hear that Cerny doesn’t believe that consoles are on the way out in an era where PC gamers are getting titles that were once PlayStation exclusives.
“I think as long as we continue to create that very nice package, the future of consoles is pretty bright,” explained Cerny during an interview with GamesIndustry.biz. Cerny is also adamant that Sony isn’t trying to make PlayStations into inexpensive PCs.
The downward slop of consoles includes Sony’s recent admission that PlayStation 5 sales won’t meet the company’s revised goals in 2024. And there’s no guarantee that PlayStation 5 Pro will reverse those trends. That’s led some gamers to believe that a post-console era could possibly emerge at some point in the future. However, Cerny doesn’t believe that consoles are obsolete. In fact, he suggests that the consoles are still paving the way for PCs to improve.
“I like to think that occasionally we’re even showing the way for the larger industry, and that our efforts end up benefiting those gaming on PC as well,” added Cerny.
Cerny’s career extends back to the arcade era, where he developed Marble Madness and worked on other titles. Cerny has been associated with or employed by Sony for over two decades, and some of the games he’s contributed to include Jak & Daxter: The Precursor Legacy and Ratchet & Clank. Although Cerny is turning 60 this year, he isn’t ready to leave the industry behind.
“It is something that’s a bit on my mind,” noted Cerny. “But I do believe I have a bit of time left in this industry.”
