The PS5 release date can’t come soon enough, especially if Sony’s PlayStation follow-up is capable of producing the kind of visuals demonstrated at the Game Developer Conference in San Francisco.
Epic Games has used GDC as a platform to showcase its new capture technology. New videos featuring Lord of the Rings actor Andy Serkis show how developers will be able to produce realistic character models.
In fact, Epic’s chief technology officer Kim Libreri believes that in five to ten years, people won’t be able to tell the difference between the real world and the virtual world.
“You’ll see hardware that can support these kinds of capabilities pretty shortly, and then, finally, the greatest blockbuster with the most complicated effects, within ten years, you’ll be able to do that in real-time,” Libreri told GamesIndustry.biz.
“We’re getting close to crossing the uncanny valley. We’re not totally there yet, but we’re getting close.”
Even more impressive is how Epic Games (with the help of 3Lateral) is able to transform Serkis into a sinister alien character called Osiris Black.
You can see the technical demonstration in the videos below…
While Libreri admits that the technology will need to catch up, he also believes that it’s an exciting time for gaming and that the possibilities are “crazy”.
While it may come too soon for the PS5, Sony’s next console will take a step closer to producing these kind of visuals.
Analysts believe that Sony could launch the PS5 in either 2019 or 2020.
Most recently, NPD analyst Mat Piscatella said he expects the PS5 release date to be in 2020 and would be surprised if it launches before then.
He said: “2020 is what I have in my forecast. The data suggest there’s no need to do it earlier.
“But I’ve been surprised before so I’m as interested in this as anyone.”
Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot, on the other hand, believes that the PS5 release date would be a “minimum of two years away”.
Seeing as he made this prediction in 2017, this would mean an announcement in 2019 at the earliest.
And the PS5 could already have its first blockbuster game, as Avalanche Studios hints at what’s to come for the next-gen.
The developer is advertising for staff to work on its next-gen sandbox engine.
“Avalanche Studios is currently looking for a senior programmer to join a small team developing our next generation open world / sandbox multiplayer engine,” reads an Avalanche job post.”
Maybe the next Just Cause will be around for the launch of the PS5.