14 DAY TRIAL // The Xbox One and the PlayStation 4 might introduce more powerful hardware, but the leader of developer Epic Games believes that the generation of gaming devices coming after them will be able to create graphics impossible to distinguish from reality.
Tim Sweeney, the chief executive officer at the studio, is quoted by Eurogamer as telling an audience at the Develop conference that creating photorealistic games will not mean that there are no new areas for developers to explore.
He states, “That just moves the challenge of graphics to the problems we don’t know how to solve. Like simulating human intelligence, animation, speech, lip-syncing. There are still a lot areas that will require ongoing research for probably the rest of our lives before we come close to approaching reality.”
Already many developers are talking about the way cloud computing on both the Xbox One and the PlayStation 4 will enable them to create better game experiences.
Sweeney believes that improved intelligence for enemies and better graphics can enable gaming to become a more interesting form of entertainment.
He adds, “It means we can potentially reach a much larger audience, and it will be increasingly important worldwide. Consoles are specific to the Western markets – North America, Europe – but they really don’t exist in Korea, China… I really think we can build one game that goes to all of those markets by supporting the appropriate platforms.”
At the moment, Epic Games is working on the development of the Unreal Engine 4, which will take full advantage of the features of the next gen of consoles and the advancements in PC hardware.
The company is also working on Fortnite, a game that will showcase many of the core ideas in the new engine.
Another secret first-person shooter is also under development at the studio.