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Midway Remains “Concerned” About PS3 Sales

Despite the recent sales spike of the PS3, many publishers are still somewhat disappointed in the overall market performance of Sony's next-gen system to date. However, that isn't stopping them from supporting the PS3; they simply feel it's a little behind at this time.

In an interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Midway's CEO David Zucker said he's "still concerned about sales of the PlayStation 3," but also believes that $100 price cut will certainly help the console, at least in the "short term." Midway will continue to support the PS3, as they're prepared to publish Epic's Unreal Tournament 3 – exclusive to the PS3 this year – and the much anticipated Stranglehold arrives soon as well.

"We would not be the only publisher to tell you that we're a little concerned about the take-up of the PS3," said Zucker. "Anytime you get a hundred dollar price on hardware it will improve sales. The question is, is it enough? Will there be more?"

Most analysts believe we will see more price cuts in the future, and the only questions are "when?" and "how much?" Midway is only one of many publishers who remain hesitant to heap praise on the PS3's current sales numbers, but most of those publishers are pushing forward with their projects for Sony's system. The UT 3 deal is definitely huge, for example, and should make a giant splash in November.

"When you go back to last year's E3, one of the first titles that were shown on Sony's PS3 was Unreal Tournament. So, it has always been a big title for the PS3," said Zucker.

We expect to see bigger sales of the PS3 this holiday season, of course, but with the introduction of the 80GB PS3 (which costs $599), and the phasing-out of the 60GB PS3 at the lower $499 price point, we understand Zucker's "short term" comment. Even so, it's good to see these same questioning publishers placing faith in the future of the console.