You’ll remember the PlayStation 2 as the best-selling video game console of all time. For that very reason, claiming that the PS4 will exceed its profits would be pretty strong words, and Kaz Hirai, Sony’s President and CEO, said just that in a recent briefing.
In the direct quote, translated for by Digital Foundry contributor John Linneman for Eurogamer, Hirai says, “It is likely that PS4 will become the platform which exceeds the profits earned with PS2.” It comes from a media strategy meeting covered by Japanese site Impress Watch, which was picked up on by NeoGAF.
The reasons cited for such a positive outlook were strong sales and PlayStation Network services. Unlike Nintendo, Sony got on the bandwagon of selling consoles at a loss to recoup the money later with software sales and paid network subscriptions. However, with the PS3, that strategy backfired a little bit, and Sony has planned from the beginning not to let the same thing happen to the PS4.
It sounds like they’re on track, despite the fact that Sony has had massive losses as a whole recently, and a $78 million operating loss in the game division. Whatever the state of the rest of the company, sales so far have clearly left them optimistic about quickly recovering that money and then a whole new big pile of it.
Of course, it’s still a long race, and anything could happen. The Xbox 360 closed the gap between itself and the Wii pretty well at the end of the last generation, so it’s too early to tell if Hirai is right, but it’s certainly shaping up that way. Sorry, Nintendo. If this keeps up, you’re not the one getting a bunch of hilarious profit GIFs this time around.
(via Eurogamer, image via Sony and our own edits)
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Published: May 22, 2014 05:33 pm