"I don't see the retail price increasing as games are already expensive," added Antoniades, allaying initial fears that the rise in costs would be reflected at retail. "In the past, sales of 500,000 units would be a hit. Now you need to sell millions.

"In the next generation there will be far fewer publishers, sinking their money into far fewer games. I believe that most independent developers will disappear, either through going bust or due to merger or acquisition."