Activision Talks Dropping PS3 Support

By Joe Haygood | June 19, 2009

Our favorite gaming CEO mouthpiece, Bobby Kotick, has once again mentioned the need for Sony to lower the price of their console, but he added a new wrinkle to the announcement.

It seems that Bobby seems to feel that the high price of the console has stagnated the growth of the PS3, and that Activision may have to cut development for the platform, as it sees lackluster sales in comparison to other platforms.

Now I am not a super smart businessman, but something tells me that while the PS3 may sell less copies of multiplatform titles than the Xbox 360 or the Nintendo Wii, but recent sales of Call of Duty 4 and all the Guitar Hero releases on the PS3 would make me think there is still value to publishing on the platform.

via Talking About Games

“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. When we look at 2010 and 2011, we might want to consider if we support the console – and the PSP too.”, was one of the quotes that came out of this discussion with Bobby Kotick, and it made me laugh a bit.  I mean, I look at these comments as totally idle threats.  Does anyone really think that Activision will not publish a Modern Warfare 3 or a Guitar Hero: Bryan Adams on the PS3 if they are looking at those titles in 2011?  Better still, does he honestly think that the price will still be $399 in 2010 or 2011?

In the end, I think this is more of a subtle push to get the inevitable price cut to come to the Playstation 3, and it is coming from the biggest publisher on the block right now, which does carry weight.  I just wonder if this will inspire Sony to releace the Bobby Kotick PS3 Bundle, with wallpaper of Kotick that cannot be changed, with a price tag of $299.99.

If somehow, Activision goes through with this, at least the PS3 will have more in common with PC gamers, as they seem to get cut from production platforms all the time.