BitSnark

In a recently published interview with The Times newspaper, Activision Blizzard CEO Robert Kotick has boldly threatened to drop support for both the PlayStation 3 and the PSP as early as 2010. His rationalie? He points out to the fact that his company will be forced to do so as the Xbox 360 and Wii are selling better than the PlayStation 3, giving better returns on investment.

“I’m getting concerned about Sony; the PlayStation 3 is losing a bit of momentum and they don’t make it easy for me to support the platform. It’s expensive to develop for the console, and the Wii and the Xbox are just selling better. Games generate a better return on invested capital on the Xbox than on the PlayStation,” So says Mr. Kotick.

Continuing to push the price drop issue, Mr. Kotick goes on with:

“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.”

In regards to when such a threat may be followed through with, Kotick said: “When we look at 2010 and 2011, we might want to consider if we support the console — and the PSP [portable] too.”

Both IGN and Spong recieved the following comments from Sony:

“We respect our third parties opinions and their right to express those opinions but we will not be commenting on this story.”

“PlayStation has tremendous momentum coming out of E3, and we are seeing positive growth with more than 350 titles slated to hit across all our platforms, including many anticipated games from our publishing partners. We enjoy healthy business relationships with and greatly value our publishing partners and are working closely with them to deliver the best entertainment experience.”

Whilst I don’t see this becoming a tangible reality in the shorter term as this appears to be a warning shot more than anything else, Sony really need to take a pro-active stance on the price issue and regain the confidence of key third-party players.

What do you think?