PS4, Xbox One sales will overtake PS3, Xbox 360 in five years - Zelnick

PlayStation 4 and Xbox One will outsell their precursors well ahead of the previous generation's schedule, according to take Two CEO Strauss Zelnick.

Although the PS3 and Xbox 360 took eight years to generate their current sales levels, Zelnick expects the PS4 and Xbox One to reach the same totals in just five years, he told investors at the Credit Suisse' 2013 Technology Conference, as reported by GamesIndustry.

"I'd specifically say yes because it appears that - and this is largely anecdotal but tablets are a good example - all these new iterations of more and more exciting hardware seem to have picked up in velocity generationally compared to five or 10 years ago," he said.

"But if we had a big market meltdown, for example, a repeat of '08 and '09 in three years, or two years, or two minutes, that would influence it. But if this economy stays on this track, yeah, I feel good about it."

The Xbox 360 launched in 2005 with the PS3 following in 2006. Combined, the platforms have shifted over 160 million units; the split is pretty even, as the Xbox 360 is more popular in North America but the PS3 has performed better in Europe and Japan.

The PS4 hit 2.1 million global sales yesterday; Microsoft hasn't given firm Xbox One data but seems pretty jovial.