Gaming’s Performance Plateau: What Cross-Gen Consoles Mean for the Future

Rising hardware costs and stalled component progress continue shaping a longer cross-generation era across consoles and gaming PCs.

Hardware by Tanvir Kabbo on Dec 23, 2025

Gaming technology seems to be reaching a point where it can't get any better. The environment is unstable because RAM costs are going through the roof, there are reports that the 50-series upgrade has been canceled, and Nvidia has been hesitant to add new gaming capabilities after making major improvements with DLSS and ray tracing. The fact that a new Steam Machine is coming out with only 8GB of RAM adds to that feeling.

At the same time, big studios' long-term development plans show that hardware stagnation may affect how games are made for years to come. CDPR wants to make a six-year Witcher trilogy, which is possible because the engine, world design, and assets are all built on the same foundations. This makes us wonder what hardware the last two games will be made for.

Gaming, Performance Plateau, What Cross-Gen Consoles, Mean for the Future, NoobFeed

If The Witcher 4 comes out late in this generation of consoles, would The Witcher 6 still have to follow the rules of the current generation even halfway through the following one? Even while this speculation seems bad, it could mean that now is a great time for gamers on a budget. People with AM4-based setups with the best settings could remain competitive well into the PS7 era.

Alexander Xeanov has another question: will the PS6 mark the start of a "double cross-gen" era, when games launch simultaneously on PS4, PS5, and PS6?

Longer Hardware Cycles and Slower Generational Shifts

For a while now, we've been expecting a long cross-gen phase. The prices of developing continue to climb, while the costs of getting into the hobby haven't gone down much. A publisher can't only rely on the number of people who buy a new platform when they release a big blockbuster with a $500 million budget. Because of this, it looks like games will continue to target outdated technology long into the next cycle.

Another thing that isn't always talked about is that the next generation of consoles may be delayed. If big companies like Nvidia or AMD are cutting back on gaming supplies, why would Sony or Microsoft get first dibs on important parts like RAM? If RAM prices stay high and there isn't enough of it, the release dates for next-gen technology could inevitably be pushed back.

Even without the RAM crisis, we think most big releases will be available across multiple generations of consoles because that's how the market works. But we don't think there will be many PS4 games out by the time PS6 comes out. Long-running games like Call of Duty, which have historically prioritized scalability across a wide range of technologies, might be the most likely exception.

Viability of Triple Cross-Gen PS4, PS5, and PS6

Based on what we're seeing now, PS4 is certainly coming to an end. There are scalability limits. Some engines, like Call of Duty's, can scale very well, but the rest of the industry probably won't keep PS4 support going for a long time into the PS6 cycle.

Instead, we might see two layers: PS5 as the basis for games that work on both generations and PS6 as the high-end version. The PS5 already has a decent GPU, a fast storage, and a good CPU. A lot of its benefits, like super-fast I/O, haven't been fully leveraged yet. The graphics are still very scalable, thus the PS5 is a suitable long-term floor.

We might also see ongoing support for popular live-service games with communities on more than one platform. PS4, PS5, and PS6 versions of Fortnite or Final Fantasy XIV might be around for a while. Support is more likely to last when there are a lot of players and the game is free to play.

Gaming, Performance Plateau, What Cross-Gen Consoles, Mean for the Future, NoobFeed

How long will the Witcher trilogy work with current hardware?

If CDPR is working on basic systems early on, such as traversal speeds, streaming behavior, chunk sizes, and world structure, then the hardware limits for The Witcher 4 will probably also limit The Witcher 5 and 6.

That anchor gets even more limiting if some sections of the free world are exploited again. Changing the planet just for next-gen hardware would be expensive and probably not possible in three years. Because of this, it's not unreasonable to think that The Witcher 5 and The Witcher 6 might still be cross-gen to some degree, depending on how development goes.

AM4 Longevity and the Strength of X3D

AM4 is still one of the best things to happen to PC gaming. Putting an X3D processor onto an AM4 board can almost double the CPU's performance compared to a PS5. Even though early AM4 boards don't have PCIe4.0, the X3D series will last a long time and keep performing well for years to come.

We may expect AM4 systems, especially those with modern GPUs, to remain useful even when the next generation of consoles launches. The platform should work quite well for optimized 30fps-focused experiences, even though it may not be as good as Zen6-based hardware.

A Cross-Gen Era That May Be the Longest Yet

We expect the longest cross-gen period the industry has ever experienced. Hardware stagnation, development expenses are going up, and the market is getting smaller. This means that systems from the current generation will get greater support, it will take longer for next-generation consoles to catch on, and scalability will become more important.

Gamers on a budget, especially those with strong AM4 builds or PS5 systems, may find that their hardware stays relevant longer than expected in the following few years, even as new platforms come out.

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