PS4, Xbox One development "eight to ten times" more work than current-gen consoles

[Dohc-WP]

Despite already creating a powerful set of tools to make video games called MT Framework, Capcom gave clearer insight into the Panta Rhei engine, the Japanese developer’s new technology platform for making video games on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

The news was shared via a Capcom investor relations interview you can read here.

During the last console generation, Capcom internally developed MT framework, an engine to improve efficiency and quality of its game development. “However, we have run into some problems and limitations while using this framework,” Masaru Ijuin, Senior manager of Technology Management at Capcom said.

“Looking ahead to the development of games for next-gen consoles, we felt we needed to completely overhaul the development environment to better cope with the increasingly complex hardware. That's pretty much why we started developing this new engine.”

When asked what the limitations of the MT Framework Engine, Ijuin gave more specific information. “It’s clear that heightened game quality leads to a rise in the number of man hours. The amount of work involved in making games for next-gen consoles is eight to ten times greater than what is required for the current generation of consoles.”

Ijuin does highlight that Capcom passed on the decision to upgrade MT Franework and chose to build a brand new engine instead. “Improvements to "MT Framework" might have reduced the work time from one hour to 30 minutes. We sought to go beyond that and shorten those 30 minutes to ten, ” Ijuin said.

Source: IGN


I was under the Impression this gen was supposed to be easier since they're technically coding for x86/64 pc based hardware ! or am i missing something

 

[Iam3G]

Wasn't game development always harder for consoles than those for PC's? (even though the hardware is the same)

 

[DieGrootHammer]

Wasn't game development always harder for consoles than those for PC's? (even though the hardware is the same)

The previous generation had different architectures in the Xbox and the PS3, which is different from a PC environment. This made game porting to PC a difficult task for some developers.

The latest consoles are more based on PC architectures than ever before, so theoretically developing should be easier.

What I think the crux of the matter is that games nowadays are expected to be at a higher level of quality, which take a lot of work to get right. I would say that this is the reason why so many games are coming out almost completely broken out of the gate. Developers try to be as economical as possible, and are not spending enough time and capital in post-development testing and debugging. And THAT is what makes it more difficult

 

[Snare]

The previous generation had different architectures in the Xbox and the PS3, which is different from a PC environment. This made game porting to PC a difficult task for some developers.

The latest consoles are more based on PC architectures than ever before, so theoretically developing should be easier.

What I think the crux of the matter is that games nowadays are expected to be at a higher level of quality, which take a lot of work to get right. I would say that this is the reason why so many games are coming out almost completely broken out of the gate. Developers try to be as economical as possible, and are not spending enough time and capital in post-development testing and debugging. And THAT is what makes it more difficult

Makes sense; so you scheme that the entire approach to how developers deal with post-alpha content needs to change in order to bring things down to a manageable workload for them?

 

[XbatousaiX]

We hear this all the time at the start of a generation but are these consoles not easier to work with no complicated cell processor and 8 gigs of ram.I think these statements are to justify these game prices I am seeing.

 

[Iam3G]

I would say that this is the reason why so many games are coming out almost completely broken out of the gate. Developers try to be as economical as possible, and are not spending enough time and capital in post-development testing and debugging. And THAT is what makes it more difficult

I think a lot of that has got to the do with "What the Gamers want". Developers used to make a game without giving a rats behind of what the users thought, and as far as I can remember, those games were pretty damn awesome.

Nowadays a lot gamers complain and whine and want this and that changed in a game, then the games come out as you said. Broken out of the gate.

 

[DieGrootHammer]

Makes sense; so you scheme that the entire approach to how developers deal with post-alpha content needs to change in order to bring things down to a manageable workload for them?

Well it's a good place to start.

I think a lot of that has got to the do with "What the Gamers want". Developers used to make a game without giving a rats behind of what the users thought, and as far as I can remember, those games were pretty damn awesome.

Nowadays a lot gamers complain and whine and want this and that changed in a game, then the games come out as you said. Broken out of the gate.

i do feel for developers. The gaming industry has grown to be probably the biggest entertainment industry, and that add a lot of pressure to the developers. Gone are the days where you can simply code a game, add some graphics and sell it. Games have become Big Industry now. For a game, especially a AAA title, you need focus groups researching trends and ideas from the targeted demographic; you need research to be done in the validity of content such as gun design or car design; highly skilled developers are becoming an increasingly expensive resource; marketing of your game is almost more important than the actual coding as well.

With these added pressures, coupled with the fact that, even though the current-gen consoles are X86 based architecture, they are still new and will require much more time to utilise their full potential.

 

[Fivel]

Could they be preparing us for higher prices? There is no way that a company can absorb that additional overhead.

 

[Orion]

Yes I think the prices will be increased but look at the older gen consoles and how cheap the games were. Every newer console have a price increase, don't you agree?