Hirai: Most PS2 owners will become PS3 owners eventually

Kaz Hirai, president and group CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment, has told GamesIndustry.biz that he is happy to play the long game as far as the PlayStation 3 business is concerned - and that the company knows "most PS2 consumers will transition over to the PS3" in time.

And in the meantime Sony is continuing to make money on the 130 million installed base of the hugely popular PlayStation 2, including on the hardware end of things.

"Well I think that ultimately since we know that most PS2 consumers will transition over to the PS3, number one - that's not something that we look at in fiscal year terms, and number two - quite honestly a lot of people ask me if we make money on the PS2 hardware...well we make money on the PS2 hardware, and we have some good tie ratios, so it's not an all-or-nothing proposition," he explained. "The PS2 business is very profitable for us, so consumers that stay with the PS2 this year, if they transition over next year, that's fantastic for us.

"And ultimately, when you look back, a PS2 consumer that just came into that fold today - and if they then transition to the PS3 - we've done business with them on the PS2 and the related software, and then on the PS3 and that related software, as opposed to them just coming to PS3. So I think we can have it both ways, have our cake and eat it too."

The full interview with Kaz Hirai will be published shortly.