Activision boss: “We might have to stop supporting Sony”

Activison CEO Bobby Kotick certainly doesn’t pull any punches. Speaking to The Times Online, he was less-than-positive about a certain struggling Japanese electronics corporation. ““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.”

According to Big Boss Bobby, his company paid around $500 million to Sony in royalties and other fees last year. As Sony’s gaming division lost $597million in that same period, it’s certainly not an unsubstantial figure. Activision are hardly penniless however, making $179million in profits just in the first quarter of this year.

Despite those losses, Kotick feels that Sony need to make further sacrifices if the PS3 is to be successful. “They have to cut the price, because if they don’t, the attach rates are likely to slow. If we are being realistic, we might have to stop supporting Sony.” Asked when this might be, he replied, “When we look at 2010 and 2011, we might want to consider if we support the console — and the PSP too.”

It seems a bit of a drastic move to suggest that Activision would stop supporting Sony platforms completely. But if there’s anything that we’ve learned, it’s that Activision’s money-grabbing attitude means that they will doing anything to maximise their return on an investment. That’s probably why they’re the most evil successful gaming publisher in the world.

But if there’s any company who has the influence to force Sony into dropping the price of the Playstation 3, it’s Activision.