Whenever a new console launches, most hardware makers has been accustomed to losing money for every unit sold, with costs…
Whenever a new console launches, most hardware makers has been accustomed to losing money for every unit sold, with costs recouped with software and accessory sales.
This won’t be the case with the PlayStation 4. In an interview with RTL News from the Netherlands (transcribed by NeoGAF user Simon), Sony EU boss Jim Ryan confirms that the console launching at a €399 price point, allows them to “generate cash and profitability.”
That’s, uh, top-top-top-secret information, uhm, but what I’d say is that Sony is, uhm, Sony is in difficult times at the moment and PlayStation is one of the pillar businesses that Sony’s leader, Kazuo Hirai, has identified as pivotal to sustaining Sony’s business, while he regenerates it and restructures.
And therefor it’s really important that across our ecosystem that we generate cash and profitability.
The €399 price point, which I’m really thrilled about, allows us to to do that.
Also of note, the interviewer asked Ryan why he (Ryan) thinks the PS4 is better than the Xbox One, without using the release date and the price as advantages; to which Ryan replies that they have “more than half” of 34 games that’s set to launch between November 29 up to December that won’t “appear” on the Xbox One.
Well, the release date and the price are definitely factors, because we will be in the market before Christmas and they will not. We have a 100 euro price advantage, compared to them. So these are, I think in the content of the Netherlands, the Dutch market and the Dutch gamer, these are important factors, but if you want me to talk about other things, I will, but I’d very much like to focus on the games.
We will have published on the PS4, between November 29 and Christmas, there will be 34 games published. Of which more than half will be available on PS4, but will not appear on Xbox One.
This gaming line-up provides a very strong point of difference.
Another interesting tidbit was that Ryan claims PlayStation games will be streamed to non-PlayStation devices, and that streaming to non-Sony products is “definitely on the horizon.”
Starting next year in North-America and soon to follow in Europe, we will start streaming PlayStation gaming experiences to PlayStation devices, but also to non-PlayStation devices: smartphones, tablets, laptop computers, televisions, blu-ray players.
We will stream to, obviously Sony products, but also the possibility to stream to non-Sony products is definitely on the horizon.
Be sure to watch the entire interview here.
I don’t know about you, but “more than half of 34″ games is a rather impressive number, no? More importantly, it seems we can expect some Sony games to be streamed on non-Sony devices very soon, which should make a lot of people happy.