Sony, Activision latest dust-up in console battle
Sony has been grabbing more than a few headlines over the past few days, as an ominous warning from Activision Blizzard head Bobby Kotick over cutting the price on the company's PS3 punctuated the previous week.
If you were to take a quick poll from many around the videogame industry, they would say that Sony had its best showing in quite some time during this year's E3.
True, Sony's press conference may not have generated the same buzz as Microsoft's unveiling of "Project Natal."
However, by and large, the makers of the PS3 showed that they were putting their creative energy in the right place by showing off a relatively solid lineup of software for the console.
Unfortunately, where many agree the company fell short was in not announcing a much needed price cut on their next generation console.
Leading up to the annual conference, there was a lot of speculation that a price reduction of as much as $100 was a real possibility and a further indication that Sony was heading in the right direction.
However, as E3 came and went, it became clear that the company had no intentions of changing the MSRP on the PS3.
This move, or lack thereof, immediately drew the ire of many publishers, with many voicing their disapproval both in public, as well as in private.
Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick went one step further however, by flatly stating during an interview with United Kingdom-based Times Online on Friday that "They have to cut the price, because if they don't ... we might have to stop supporting Sony."
Kotick's reasoning is that he feels as though without a meaningful price reduction, game purchases for the system will continue to shrink due to the smaller install base.
Adding to the severity of this warning is the fact that the CEO also including discontinuing support for Sony's PSP as well.
He said, "When we look at 2010 and 2011, we might want to consider if we support the console and the PSP too."
To that end, it almost goes without saying that losing the support of the world's largest game publisher would have an immediate and dire affect on the company.
And while Sony has yet to directly address Kotick's statement, a spokesman for the company did issue a generic response which highlighted the number of titles slated for release across their platforms and reiterating how they value each of their publishing partners.
It's still too early to tell if Sony has already yielded to this pressure.
However, many feel as though a price cut on the PS3 before the end of the year was inevitable.
GameStop executives are already anticipating a price drop in time for the August launch of the new Madden title, while others feel as though Sony has no choice but to cut prices if they want to remain competitive.
