It wasn't too much of a surprise when Sony failed to unveil the PlayStation 4 at E3 this year. The media, ourselves included, speculated that the company was still banking on extending the lifespan of the PlayStation 3 by at least one more year, with games like God of War: Ascension and The Last of Us still yet to come.
In an interview with MCV, Sony's Andrew House has spoken on the matter. He says that the company will only reveal the next generation console when it can actually demonstrate a significant improvement over current technology—which, given the demonstration of The Last of Us—is clearly has not been fully tapped.
"The right time to talk about new advances in hardware is when you can demonstrate a significant leap on the current experience, and something that is going to be attractive," he said. "Beyond that we have nothing to say at this point."
It makes sense—there's no point in revealing a PlayStation 4 when the PlayStation 3 is capable of running a game as graphically stunning and mechanically sound as The Last of Us. Until such games begin to resemble PlayStation 2 titles in the face of upcoming PC games, there's little reason for Sony to cut the lifespan of its console a year short especially since it's only just managed to find its stride.
Sony may well announce the PlayStation 4 at next year's event, but don't expect them to say much about it until then.
Thanks, CVG.