Valve's Steam Box and the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset will define next-generation gaming, not the Xbox One or PlayStation 4. That's according to former Epic Games design director Cliff Bleszinski, who told [a]listdaily that he is more interested in "disruptive" technology than traditional platforms.

"Things like the Steam Box and the Oculus Rift, honestly," Bleszinski said when asked what he thinks will define next-generation gaming. "I'm friends with a lot of folks in Microsoft. Microsoft has been very good to me throughout my career. I'm friends with the folks at Sony. But when I think about my gamer instincts and where I'm going to see a lot of the most disruptive and innovative gaming I don't see it in the $250 million budgeted game that cost $100 million to market."

Bleszinski said when budgets reach this level, the amount of risk developers and publishers take on "decreases exponentially."

"I was more excited about playing games like Gone Home than any console release. I am thoroughly excited to dive into Grand Theft Auto V, but it's sitting on my desk looking like War and Peace to me right now," Bleszinski said. "I'm going to have to clear out a good two weeks of doing nothing in order to just deep dive into it. In the meantime I’m on my Nintendo DS and I'm on my laptop playing Steam games. I got to fire up Two Brothers and I finished Thomas Was Aloneand Gone Home."

Despite his enthusiasm for "disruptive" technology surpassing his interest in traditional consoles, Bleszinski said he is still planning to buy an Xbox One and PlayStation 4.

"I don't know if it's because I'm rubber banding and rebelling against my AAA background, but I will buy a PlayStation 4 and an Xbox One," he said. "Am I more excited for that than the Rift and Steam? I think Sony and Microsoft are going to do just fine and it's a known entity. A known entity is not that exciting to me. It’s the disruptive things that are exciting to me."

Bleszinski left Epic Games in October after 20 years. Since leaving the company, Bleszinski has visited the offices of Activision, Zynga, Double Fine, and Electronic Arts. He has also met with God of War and Twisted Metal designer David Jaffe and been courted by Ubisoft.