The success of PlayStation 4 has been an important oxygen balloon for the Japanese company, which is now focused on its new generation console.
After dominating two generations in a row with PlayStation and PlayStation 2, things went awry when the next console was released. The first model, which cost a whopping 600 euros, soon had to clarify its price in order to be competitive in the market. The successes of Wii and Xbox 360 devoured an important part of the cake, reason why Sony had to be used thoroughly with PlayStation 4. Shahid Ahmad, former director of the company, has recognized that one more failure could have meant the end of the brand. .
This is recognized in the documentary The PlayStation Revolution, which will premiere next September. The former executive acknowledges that the PlayStation 3 stage was tough, and that this situation brought about a change in the company’s attitude, which turned it into a more “humble, passionate and enthusiastic” organization. With this new attitude, they approached the launch of their then new machine.
PS4 Pro.
An extremely hard stage
“PlayStation 3 was a lot of things for very different people,” says Ahmad in the film, which VGC has already seen. “It was definitely a difficult period, because a lot of work had to be done to turn around the technological and economic deficit caused by the launch of this extraordinary piece of hardware.” The manager acknowledges that despite its power, it was very difficult to get all the juice out of it. “But people did it and it finally became a success, but my goodness it was a war of attrition,” he recalls.
For Ahmad, the company that emerged from that experience was a much more focused company from a corporate perspective. “I think even we were surprised by the delusional PS4 reception, because it was a kind of redemption as well,” he says. “We had to do things right or it could have been the end.” According to their words, they established the strategy, closed agreements with developers, chose a price and opted to avoid DRM. “But we didn’t expect it to be such an incredible success.”
PlayStation 4 went on sale in 2013. Seven years after that moment, the Japanese company is about to launch its successor.
