Mark Czerny has been a part of PlayStation for years and oversaw the development of the PlayStation 4 and 5. And he believes the two consoles were key in helping gaming evolve technologically.
Talking to Gaming industry, he expressed his surprise at how the developers have improved the capabilities of the PS5. Before studios preferred 60fps, he believed that games would stick to 30fps as it provided more detail to the game’s art style.
Likewise, he didn’t think ray tracing would benefit much, but it was a key technical feature for several PS5 games. Adding it was a “fairly late” decision and he wasn’t sure given his work on “heavyweight” consoles like the PlayStation 3.
Although it caught him by surprise, he was okay with being “totally wrong” about the technique. “I’m very excited to see early adoption of this technology.”
Consoles and “Hardware Freedom”
Having worked on consoles for so long, Cerny believes that their hardware freedom has given Sony a chance to lead by example, especially in multi-platform gaming. Everything that goes into the PS5 may reflect current technology or what may receive “100 percent adoption” in the future.
In essence, he argued that PC ports of PlayStation games are “simpler [conversions] than a lot of people thought.” In addition to minimum spec boosts (such as more CPU or RAM), porting Ghost of Tsushima or Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart was not so difficult.
However, he emphasized that this is not some move to enter the PC market a la Microsoft. Sony just doesn’t hold itself to any specific standards. I think we even lead the way for the industry at large from time to time, and that our efforts ultimately benefit PC gamers as well.”
Consoles still have a place in Cerny’s vision for gaming. As long as Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo “continue to build this very good package, the future of consoles is pretty bright.”
GamesIndustry’s full interview with Cerny, which also covers his time at Atari and becoming a support developer, can be read here.