Sony Corp. is raising internal sales projections for the forthcoming PlayStation 4 videogame console amid positive signs about demand for the device, executives of the Japanese electronics company said Tuesday.
Andrew House, global head of Sony's PlayStation videogame business, said the company is shifting its internal projections for the product after favorable reactions to the company's presentation Monday at the Electronics Entertainment Expo here this week. He did not quantify those projections.
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The company said it will sell the PlayStation 4 later this year for $399, and began letting consumers place preorders Monday night. Contrary to rival Microsoft Corp., which is releasing the Xbox One for $499 in November, Sony will not offer publishers technology to restrict the resale or sharing of disc-based games.
Excitement from gamers was evident on Amazon.com Inc.'s website, as the PlayStation 4 jumped to the top of the list of best-selling videogame products on the website. Sales were apparently so high that Amazon included a warning that it could no longer guarantee release-date availability for new preorders.
Jack Tretton, head of Sony Computer Entertainment of America, said GameStop Corp. executives had told him the company would buy "every single unit" Sony can manufacture if it could. "We're excited about the momentum," he said.
Mr. House said the enthusiasm, however, could lead to another problem: "Demand may well outstrip supply."
A GameStop spokeswoman confirmed that executives had expressed that sentiment. Amazon representatives didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
The enthusiasm comes at an important time for Sony. The company made a profit in the fiscal year ended in March for the first time in five years. Sony has repeatedly said the PlayStation business is a growth driver for the company at a time when its mainstay consumer electronics business is in decline.
There were other indications of Sony's momentum heading out of the E3 show this week that could help to reverse its fortunes in the videogame industry.
Executives from partner game makers said the technology powering the PlayStation 4 is easier to develop products for than in the past, adding that Sony has resolved longstanding complaints that made them less enthusiastic about working with the company. New software, coupled with increased interest among gamers, could help the company gain market share in what has historically been a bifurcated market between Microsoft's Xbox and PlayStation.
Mr. House also said that unlike its rival, Sony will ensure that older games will run on the PlayStation 4 by offering them through a technology called "cloud gaming." Instead of running the titles on the new console itself, the software runs on remote servers that stream the game images and user commands over the Internet.
"There's potential in this area," Mr. House said, adding that other entertainment industries, such as music and movies, have been able to manage sales of their products for decades after they've been initially released. Cloud gaming is one solution, he said. "It's critical for videogames as an industry to figure this out."
Mr. House declined to disclose how much the company has invested in its streaming service after acquiring Gaikai Inc. last year for $380 million. He did say, however, the investment "is not insubstantial."
Either way, Mr. Tretton said, indications are the number of gamers around the world is growing, citing the company's own extensive market studies and a figure that there are a billion gamers in the world, 220 million of whom are in the U.S.
"I think there are more people going from smartphones to tablets to 'Call of Duty' than those going from 'Call of Duty' to smartphones and tablets," he said, referring to the popular war simulation shooting game from Activision Blizzard Inc. "We're clearly betting that the future is very bright for the console
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