EA: Streaming is the future of gaming, nobody will need a console in 2028

In an interview with Gamesindustry.biz, Electronic Arts executive VP of strategic growth Matt Bilbey talks about the future of game distribution. He states it's no longer a question of if but when the game industry will turn to streaming as the next big thing. Game streaming has been tried repeatedly by various firms of the last decade or so, but the infrastructure still isn't quite there yet.

Bilbey believes the bandwidth to enable game streaming will arrive within the next year to two years for a lot of people, and that smart TVs will eliminate the traditional console market in ten years.

"The console makers are smart groups," he said. "I think they'll find new roles that consoles can play in people's lives. And it could be that the console actually exists in the smart TV. Or the next PlayStation just exists on your phone, and that then pushes the experience to all the different screens you have access to. The console as it exists today, and your TV... In five years time, people will still have them, I imagine, just out of retro [sentiment]. They look good. But in 10 years, they will be in one of the other devices you have."