Echoing the thoughts of Ubisoft’s CEO, Yves Guillemot, the head of 2K Games has spoken out about the next generation of consoles. Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz, he was asked about what the next Xbox and PlayStation consoles will mean for his company. Hartmann said:

I think the market is ready to take console gaming to the next level. It is the longest cycle we’ve had and it is harder and harder to launch new IPs. Consumers are very used to the big franchises, but we need innovation in terms of content to really drive things. I think the market is ready to take it to the next level. As for us getting ready for what is coming one day, we really do not have any concrete plans.

Nintendo are getting out of the door early with the Wii U, of course, but he seemed a little cautious when asked about 2K’s plans for it:

In general, we at 2K are always going to be positive about new hardware out there, but we are also cautious about things we aren’t experienced with. We don’t want to flood the market; we’d rather pick our opportunity and work well on our projects. About the Wii U…Nintendo is such an impressive company, they have over and over again put handhelds and consoles out that are impressive. They have so much experience that I am sure they are going to do it again. With any new console, especially where something original is added, it will take time for consumers to understand it and see the beauty of it. I know that they have such clever people at Nintendo that people will see the beauty of the console, though it may take some time.

When you look at the Wii, we didn’t do many titles, but we put out Carnival Games, which did very well. It was probably one of the best titles. While you can’t plan for it all the time, we don’t throw 10 things against the wall and assume that two stick. I throw two at the wall and hope two stick, perhaps one.

While Ubisoft are jumping right in, it seems that 2K will be taking more of a ‘wait and see’ approach. It’s not a bad tactic, but if 2K does indeed want to capitalise on the chance to launch a new IP or two, then a more active approach would seem to be required. Complaining about IPs being hard to launch is one thing, but when these new consoles present themselves, will Hartmann make full use of the opportunity? Only time will tell.