As expected, Sony has high hopes from the upcoming PlayStation 4 in terms of commercial success and a respectable sales figure, and this has been the same for all the PS platforms revealed earlier. But at the same time, Sony also understands that it's set for a tough fight with Microsoft, which is also set to retail its Xbox One later this year.
Sony's UK VP and MD Fergal Gara spoke with Videogamer at this year's Gamescom, and talked about the respectable sales figures for the PlayStation 3 and how the company expected the PlayStation 4's to be even higher. When asked if the PS4 will regain the market share for Sony in the UK, Gara stated: "If it was all about day one then the answer would probably be yes."
"The truth is it's a long game. Let's not forget that PS3 launched a long time after Xbox 360 and didn't do quite as well as it should have done. But from being so far behind on timing and on pricing it's delivered quite respectably despite all of that."
The current generation PS3 did see some action later on with MCV reporting earlier this month that PS3 hardware had been outselling Xbox 360 over the entire summer - largely due to the launch of the previous PS-exclusive title The Last of Us.
"The success of The Last of Us is testament to the vision and quality of Naughty Dog, plus the tremendous support we've received from retail and media partners, who helped make it one of the year's best selling games," SCE UK marketing director Murray Pannell stated at the time.
Despite PlayStation 3 hardware and software being consistently outsold by its Xbox 360 counterpart in the UK, Gara was nonetheless confident that PS4 would go the distance, and end up boasting a fair market share in the UK.
"We're very conscious that it's a long game," he added, "we're very satisfied that we're doing very, very well right now, but we're also not getting carried away with ourselves, not getting in any way over-excited. It is a several year project. It doesn't start and finish on November 29. That's an important date but it is the start date."
The PlayStation 4 is set for a European launch on Nov. 29, with a release for the United States happening on Nov. 15.
