Bobby Kotick, CEO and President of Activision Blizzard has issued a statement threatening to drop Sony formats unless the manufacturer reduces the price for the PlayStation 3.
"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," he said.
Asked when Sony titles may be pulled, Kotick said: "When we look at 2010 and 2011, we might want to consider if we support the console — and the PSP [portable] too. Games generate a better return on invested capital on the Xbox than on the PlayStation." Kotick added that Activision Blizzard paid $500 million to Sony in royalties and other goods last year, which "probably still worked out at 400 percent of the profit they made".
Speaking with VG247, Wedbush Morgan"s Michael Pachter feels that Activision"s threat is nothing but posturing.
"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."
Pachter continued to say that he thought "the PSP price is intended to subsidize the PS3 price cut.
The PSP Go was officially announced at this year"s Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles with an October 1 release date and a price tag of $250/€250.
Sony later issued a statement on Kotick"s threat to stop supporting Sony with software. "We respect our third-parties" opinions and their right to express those opinions but we will not be commenting on this story," said a Sony Computer Entertainment Europe representative.