Some people will do anything to see a PlayStation 3 price cut, and Activision boss Bobby Kotick decided to try a scare tactic.
According to reports all around the Internet, the Activision Blizzard CEO has threatened to stop supporting Sony hardware unless they drop the price of the PS3, and presumably, the PSP Go. His bold and surprising statement is as follows:
"They 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. If we are being realistic, we might have to stop supporting Sony. When we look at 2010 and 2011, we might want to consider if we support the console — and the PSP [portable] too."
Of course, Kotick is brimming with confidence based on the Activision lineup for 2009, and he's only trying to sell as many copies of Modern Warfare 2 and Guitar Hero 5 as possible. Everybody knows the guy is just bluffing, as Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter already said:
"Of course Bobby’s bluffing, and good for him. I think Bobby’s obviously interested in Sony selling as many PS3s as they possibly can, and he’s not happy with their penetration so far. I think he favours a price cut, and would rather see one sooner than later."
SCEE has come forward with a fairly bland response to all this, saying they "respect" the opinion of third-party developers but they won't comment any further. Look, we needn't concern ourselves with this non-story, as we call it. It's merely a big player doing a bit of posturing and threatening because he's in a position to do so, and everyone in the industry understands this. The bottom line is not attach rate; the bottom line is that there are around 23 million PS3s in the world (which isn't a bad comparison to the 28 million 360s), and there's no way on God's green earth that Activision will slash their sales potential by…what, 45%? It just won't happen.
But it's interesting to watch, isn't it?
Fu** Activision , they are even worse than EA was when it was the largest publisher .
Fu** DJ Hero . Scratch DJ and Brutal Legend FTMFW .
Last edited by Ben Dutka PSXE on 6/19/2009 2:34:27 PM
Now this CEO has disturbed MW2's hype, there might be a drop in sales of MW2 on ps3.
I mean you coulda said : "Sony try and cut your price" but don't threaten. This is a wrong move.
Okay Sony cuts it and suffers and YOU Activision gain…wow
They just want a price cut so people will buy more overpriced guitars, DJ decks and plastic skateboards.
if mw2 does not make it to ps3… i will be really pissed off…
my most anticipated game of the year
LOL, I just laughed at that Activision statement. And I already lost any interest in them… they have to think in new IP
Does anyone even play Guitar Hero games anymore?
i only played 2 and and some of 3.
and, ya, why do they come out with new ones so damn fast?
All this franchise does is make people go, "Guitar Hero!" when a song is played anywhere away from the game. (Who honestly doesn't do this?)
I stopped playing because music is way too much of a big part of my life that i don't want to think of a video game every time a song from one of the MANY installments happens to play.
It's hard for me to listen to a lot of rock without "Red – Green – Blue – Blue – Yellow" flashing in my head.
I'm glad they never really got into my generation's genres of rock, although they did put a Senses Fail and Killswitch Engage in 3 i think…
but anything from my dad's generation has been played out by this franchise alone. Its kinda saddening because i absolutely love all of the classic rock that my dad listened to.
What could i do? just stop playing i guess…
@ Pavlovic
The new IP Singularity was developed in secret until the team was ready to prove they had a game. The game's producer (I think) made the comment that getting new IP green lighted at Activision is the holy grail there.
Last edited by Kangasfwa on 6/19/2009 11:56:48 PM
What a dumb statement to say, to bluff something so rediculous.
I think this statement is trying to hint at something, ie 'we're getting offered a lot of cash from MS so sell more of our software or else.'
as long as MW2 and Wolfenstein comes to ps3, im happy…
I wonder if Kotick is willing to pay Sony $50 per console to help finance a price cut.
Oh, you're not willing to lose a bunch of money? THEN WHY WOULD YOU EXPECT SONY TO DO SO?
Douche bag.
Instead of doing something to help Sony sell PS3s (e.g., exclusives) and increase the user base for future games, all these companies are behaving like spoiled brats, expecting Sony to take all the risks so that they can reap the rewards in the future.
It's mostly Sony's responsibility, but the third-party comapanies have no right showing the PS3 little-to-no support in the early days and then complaining that the sales are too slow.
Haha. He just sounds like a big headed cock, er "cocky", shirt trying to flex his non-existent muscles. Probably just a PR stunt to boost shares.
Funny how he said nothing about the PS2. With the sales numbers for CoD4 and World at War, I seriously can't imagine A-B pulling support. Even if they did, I'm sure he'd be crawling back to Sony after the release of GOWIII, FFXIII, FFvXIII, FFXIV, GT5, and more.
Talk is cheap activision ain't going anywhere.
Couldn't agree more.
I mean i got an xbox 360 and all so i could care less, but disrespecting my ps3 like that is just some total B.S
Last edited by www on 6/19/2009 1:43:21 PM
I predict in a few days Kotik will backpedal and take his foot out of his mouth
OH SNAP, I think we got a future analyst here 😉
true.
Pachter, who?
Last edited by Wage SLAVES on 6/19/2009 10:57:36 PM
Wow, what a joke. I love how they think since they have the greatest franchises in the freakin world they can essentially do w/e they want. They need to get over that big ego.
One best franchise – The COD franchise and I guess the Guitar hero franchise as well. If they didn't hae COD, they really wouldn't be much of anything. Kinda stupid for a guy to talk like that about Sony when they are only about 6 million units down from 3fixme and coming on strong after E3 and even before that.
You know what I say COD is a huge franchise, but the fact that Infinity Ward is taking that title away from their next offering in Modern Warfare 2 just oozes out that Call of Duty is getting beaten to death. Like nothing really innovative and new comes from it each yearly edition, and it's more the same game every year with a few different ingredients added.
I'm not saying the game is bad, but from what we've seen Sony's first party exclusive developers creating like Resistance/Killzone 2/Uncharted 2 Among Thieves/Socom Confrontation/MAG, these IP's easily stand up to any COD game and from a technical standpoint surpass it.
Sony's has some of the best talented developers on their side, and the mere trash threats that this dude from Activision cackled out of his beak towards Sony was absolutely uncalled for. Sure Activision go support only Microsoft and Nintendo. See ya.
and this is coming from a ceo who's greatest gift to the gaming community is a plastic drum set! if they want greater games sales then drop the price of their games! c'mon $200 for a plastic drum set is way too steep compaired to $400 for an amazing piece of hardware.
Yes, someone said on another site: "The CEO of a company that sells one game for $200 is calling for a price cut? He can kiss my…"
-Arvis
exactly.
I will not understand for the life of me why people think the PS3 is selling so poorly. MS, 30 mil sold since Nov 2005, Sony, 24 mil sold since Nov 2006, they are selling more units per month world wide on average. they have caught this much in just two years tells me they are out selling the 360 in over all sales world wide. Especially when you factor in the fact MS doesn’t count actual units sold but rather units shipped in their final tally, AND that fact that probably half of the xbox users have purchased more then one unit, either to have one on hand while the other is getting fixed or because they some how think buying a new one will stop the RROD problems. 24 mil install base is huge. I also think Activision is just blowing smoke. I want to see Sony succeed and i have confidence they know what they are doing. They didnt become the industry leader by not knowing how to play the game.
It comes down to total sales on games. PS3 users compared to 360 aren't buying the same number of games.
what about all the articles and claims that Sony has a higher attach rate. i was read something that said Sony is selling more software the the 360. i dont know were it was. maybe i miss read it. i think Gamasutra was reporting it.
It's because the NA market is all that a vast majority of Internet commentators and bloggers ever see. They don't look beyond these shores, and imagine that the rest of the world is a perfect reflection of what they see here.
Of course, they're wrong.
@ Nynja
That's not quite true. Some games sell way more units on 360, but many sell about the same number, and a few sell way better on PS3. I'm guessing Activision's games (COD, especially) are selling better on 360.
The total number of functioning consoles actually being used is closer than the raw numbers suggest, so I bet the variation in sales distribution depends mostly on whether gamers have friends who play multiplayer on a specific console.
You are wrong… and we are looking at Activation so you can take out Japan all together… To Activision it's more like 30 million to 19 million. Not only that The teams that creates CoD for the 360(they use separate teams in order to create the game in parity… it was one of the first PS360 games that looked the same on the PS3) are much smaller and could probably work much faster if they were not being held back. Activation may not make as much money but their profit margins would increase quite a bit. And when the largest developer leaves your platform it's only a matter of time before others leave. Of course this is likely just bluster, but the threat is real and Sony would never truly recover from Activation's loss.
Stupid Google spell checker… Activation? How did I miss that?
@Fane
When looking at the install base numbers alone, one would expect the 360 sales to be higher than they actually are when compared against the PS3's. This I understand and considered when making my post. The fact is when you look at total number of game sales per console per month, PS3 is almost always last of the current generation.
Now, using the theory of actual working 360 consoles does not help Sony's claim with attach rates. If the NA install base of working 360s are actually lower than figures given by NPD or Microsoft of sold units, it only improves the 360 attach rate.
Also one could argue the actual number of PS3s being used for gaming versus super computers. Being a multipurpose device, analysts can only guess what the PS3's actual total install base is for gaming use. This would only increase the attach rate for PS3s while lowering the actual install base. That being said, I would imagine that the percentage of PS3s used for non-gaming tasks is lower than that of the non-working 360s percentage.
It all depends on how you spin it. I think what Kotick was trying to get across was the "risk factor" is higher on Sony's platform than others. I still stand by my original post that solid titles like MW2 will sell millions and it remains to early for developers to decide on pulling support when some of the biggest console sellers are just around the corner.
As much as I hate Kotick's statement, I would not be able to disagree with him about pulling support of Sony's console if the price does not come down -AND- the install base does not go up by 2011. A scare tactic obviously, as stated before more likely in attempt to spur sales on company shares.
Regardless of what any big-wig decides, I will continue to play my PS3 more than my 360. It's where the games I want are, at no extra cost.
I just had a thought;
Activision knows about a price drop from Sony with the new hardware. He makes a subtle threat if they don't lower the price. 2 months later, price drops and the press picks it up as Kotick having "pull" in the industry.
Either that or he's trying to boost his shares.
interesting theory
They don't have any choice. If they want to stop a huge portion of their sales, that's retarded for just a price cut that would barely boost system sales.
Let's not worry about this. For now, the only important project of theirs is Modern Warfare 2, and it's not going anywhere.
i just thought of something. if Activision was really concerned about losing money, they would stop developerment for the PC. theyre return on PC games is even less then that of the PS3's.
Makes me a little nervous cause I remember the Dreamcast and EA.
yea but the DreamCast was pretty much dead on arrivel. i dont know why. i thought the DreamCast was great and i bought one for Code Veronica and Marvel vs Capcom 2. the only think i really hated was the controllers.
The controllers did suck!! LOL
I love my PS3 its worth the price I paid for it but I bought it when times were good and $$ was easy. The worlds changed very fast in a few years and Sony needs to change too. A price cut is a very good idea right now.
The DreamCast controllers gave me hand cramps. I have no regrets paying what i paid for my 60gb PS3 either. If Sony does drop the price, ill buy another one.
Last edited by Jawknee on 6/19/2009 1:34:00 PM
heres the thing. what if they arent bluffing? what if sony NEVER drops the price? tht means no more call of duty on ps3. simply put if THAT happens, i will have to get a 360
screw that. id never buy another 360. CoD isnt worth it. Plus i think you can get CoD on Mac and PC no? i have a brand new iMac with all the fixings for games. i didnt get it for games, got it for graphic design(obvious there is alot of support for Mac when it comes to games) but i has everything it needs.
Last edited by Jawknee on 6/19/2009 1:31:49 PM
Wow, I just remembered that a lot of these games come out for PC too. I think a lot of people are forgetting that and thinking COD will be Xbox exclusive or something. I mean COD is nice, but one every year just kills it.
They're bluffing. They are obviously only about the money, and dropping Sony would lose them money.
Where does he get off telling sony what to do!? This is america! We don't go to other countries and tell them how… uh. The point is they should stick to making games and leave sony to do what it's going to do. Sony not only will catch up but also pass up the other systems. (calm down sticklife geez)
lol
Activision is gonna loose a whole lotta RESPECT with such a comment. The fact that you have MW2 coming don't mean you should get ahead of yourself, this is pure pride,arrogance and boasting.
Now it's a minus respect for me, activision. Watch your mouth.
Infinity Ward could be better off under Take-Two, don't be bragging now mister.
None of these other publishers are complaining. You think Sony don't want there ps3 price as low as possible, it's just difficult considering the cost of production, PLEASE cut Sony some slack!
I don't care about the price of the PS3 I just need to pay it one time but the games..
those ones need the price cut 59.99 is sick !I miss 49.99.
Develop patience. Every (retail) game drops in price eventually. Most games hit $50 (if not much lower) within 6 months of release. Unless you desperately must play multiplayer with your friends (and don't want the community to dry up), there's no reason to pay full price for a game.
If we as a group demonstrate that we won't pay $60 for games, the release prices WILL drop. Look what happened with the PSP (e.g., Patapon and Patapon 2 releasing at $20).
Last edited by Fane1024 on 6/20/2009 3:28:29 PM
He has a point, extremely biased and hypocritical, but still a point.
A bad point
Thank you for pointing it out(as if it's not obvious)