PS5 And Xbox Architecture Makes Them More Like PCs, Says Gabe Newell

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Valve founder Gabe Newell has shared his thoughts on the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, saying they're becoming more like PCs.

Speaking to IGN, Newell said new consoles have become "just delivery sockets" for games and entertainment. The system architecture is good for developers, Newell said, because they don't need to worry as much about choosing to support console, PC, or mobile. The PS5 and Xbox Series X have similar GPU and CPU designs, so developers don't have to stress as much about support and compatibility across devices, Newell said.

"Those issues seem to be less relevant. It used to be that supporting consoles or supporting PCs or supporting mobiles was much more of a percent of the total development budget, so those decisions would have bigger impacts on how the industry collectively was investing in terms of the future. I think that's less important now," Newell said. "I think [the new consoles are] just delivery sockets for people's entertainment experiences. I think that's nice. It's good for developers that they're having to make fewer bets that are out of their control in terms of what those things are."

"Everything is converging around similar underlying CPU designs and GPU designs with layers on top of it," he added. "If you're a software developer, you just don't have to worry about it. It's like, 'Oh, it'll work on all of them.'"

Asked if the PS5 and Xbox Series X are now looking more like PCs in terms of their architecture, Newell said, "Right."

Newell's comments line up with what Platinum Games boss Atsushi Inaba said about the PS5 and Xbox Series X. He said these consoles are basically just more of the same.

"It's OK. And by that I mean, I'm sure that things will move faster, graphics will be better and maybe it will be easier with less wait times… that's good for the consumer," Inaba said. "But it's more of the same, quite frankly, compared to previous generations. It's nothing that's disruptive or super innovative, if you ask me."

The PS5 and Xbox Series X are both due to launch this holiday. Both Sony and Microsoft have shared a lot of new details around each console recently, including the specs for the PS5 and Xbox Series X.