Activision To Sony: Lower The Price Of PS3
It was recently reported that Bobby Kotick—head of one of the largest video game companies: Activision—is a little discouraged with the state of Sony and the Playstation 3. Kotick says, “I’m getting concerned about Sony; the PlayStation 3 is losing a bit of momentum and they don’t make it easy for me to support the platform. It’s expensive to develop for the console, and the Wii and the Xbox are just selling better. Games generate a better return on invested capital on the Xbox than on the PlayStation.”
Kotick attributes to the PS3’s slow sales to its hefty price. Right now, the Playstation 3, with an 80 GB hard drive sells for $399.99. For the same price, you can purchase the Xbox 360 “Elite Bundle” which includes a 120 GB hard drive, Halo 3, Fable 2, a headset, and an Ethernet and HDMI cable. That’s quite the difference. Mr. Kotick also states that “[t]hey have to cut the price, because if they don’t, the attach rates [the number of games each console owner buys] are likely to slow.” And he is right. There isn’t much to entice a consumer to pay more for a console and get less. In fact, the only thing that the Playstation 3 has going for it is its inclusion of a Blu Ray player.
Mr. Kotick closed his comments saying, “[Looking] at 2010 and 2011, we might want to consider if we support the console.” Losing Activision would be a major blow to the already struggling Playstation 3 market. With games such as Guitar Hero, Call of Duty, Quake, Tony Hawk, Doom, and others as part of their repertoire, Activision really isn’t a game provider that Sony can afford to lose.
Sony seriously needs to consider a price rearrangement for its console or it could be losing more than just market share in the near future. They simply cannot survive on a Blu Ray player and free online gaming. They’ve been trying that for years—since the launch of the PS3—and sales show that it just doesn’t cut it.
Do you have a PS3? Have you been wanting to purchase one but can’t get over the cost? Are the games provided by Activision an important factor to you? Leave us a comment and tell us what you think.