How AMD beat everyone in the next generation console battle

The time for rumors is over. Now we know almost everything about the “stuffing” of the next console, the eighth generation of game consoles. At the heart of the Playstation 4, Xbox One and even the Wii U are processors that were developed in the walls of the company AMD. But how did it happen that all three console manufacturers made their choice in favor of the same supplier? Let's figure it out.

All this was not a coincidence. It all started with a carefully thought-out plan. This was told to us by the Vice President and General Manager of AMD - Matt Skinner.

“When the next generation of game consoles appeared on the horizon, we immediately decided that we wanted to get all three. It was just obvious that the new consoles needed our technologies — x86 processors and our GPUs. ”

The strategy, the essence of which he explained to us, was based on identifying the strengths of AMD technologies, as well as learning how to combine and use them correctly. The new division of the Semi-Custom Business Unit, created in May 2013, was formed precisely in order to offer customized technical solutions to potential corporate clients.

“We really wanted to work with them. The whole point of our new division was to work together with our customers, to create unique processors for them, taking into account all their requirements. And this approach really worked. ”

The representative of AMD believes that three important factors helped to win the trust of all manufacturers of game consoles of the company:

First, it is the ability of AMD to combine all their experience in the design of central processing units (CPU) and graphics processing units (GPU) in a single chip, the so-called APU (Accelerated Processing Unit).

Secondly, this is a new company policy, which allows the customer to participate directly in the process of developing microprocessors, so that the product maximally meets its needs. For example, together with Sony, an eight-core APU based on the Jaguar processor was developed for its Playstation 4 console, which combines the x86 architecture and Radeon graphics technology. For Xbox One, a similar processor was developed with Microsoft. The differences between these processors are that Microsoft demanded that 32 MB of ESRAM ultrafast memory be built into the APU, and Sony was asked to increase the number of GPU graphics cores.

Thirdly, almost all divisions of AMD, whether it is the development department of graphic accelerators, components of cloud servers or the software department, have extensive experience in the video game market. And this is not just a marketing decision. Its roots gaming focus AMD goes into the management team of the company.

“All AMD units are now somehow involved in the gaming business. I will tell you honestly - this is all due to the fact that our company is led by people who love video games. They decided that it was in the direction of video games that we should develop further. And not lost! "

AMD is trying not only to produce microprocessors for its customers, but also to teach them to use these processors to the maximum of their capabilities. As an example, the technology of realistic hair animation - TressFX, which was developed by AMD in partnership with Crystal Dynamics and introduced into their game Tomb Raider. AMD management is confident that such friendly relations with customers is the key to the success of any company.

The fact that new game consoles use similar technologies allows video games to be ported from one platform to another as soon as possible.

“In the previous generation of consoles, developers created the game on a PC or Mac, and then the most complicated process of transferring the game to specialized console hardware began. And then, for example, to transfer the game back from the console to the PC required a huge amount of time and resources. Yes, and passed a similar transfer is not always smooth. In the new generation of consoles such difficulties can be avoided. Without exception, all the developers of video games. ”

The company's strategy is already bearing fruit. Earlier this year, it was reported that AMD suffered an operating loss of $ 29 million for the second quarter of 2013. Many analysts even predicted AMD fast death. However, in the fourth quarter of 2013, the company announced that it was again going up with a profit of 1.46 billion dollars and 95 million operating profits. The company's profit increased by 26% compared with the previous year. Does this mean that management made the right choice when it decided to become a major player in the game console market? Time will tell.

Based on polygon.com

The article is based on materials https://hi-news.ru/hardware/kak-amd-oboshla-vsex-v-bitve-za-konsoli-sleduyushhego-pokoleniya.html.