Tretton: Publishers should stay out of hardware price debate

Jack Tretton, CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment America, has hit out at publishers who have suggested that console manufacturers need to lower the price of their hardware to improve sales.

Late last month Activision's Robert Kotick said that he wanted to see the Xbox 360 and PS3 priced at USD 199 within the next two years', but Tretton has called this suggestion "unrealistic".

Reacting specifically to Kotick's price cut suggestions in an interview with The Mercury News, Tretton said: "I'm surprised by it, because I would never venture to suggest what software publishers should price their software at.

"So I don't think it's appropriate for them to suggest what hardware should be priced at."

Tretton said that publishers should be just as interested in Sony's business as their own, pointing out that without hardware, there's no third-party business.

"I think from an unrealistic standpoint I'm never surprised by that, because a software manufacturer may not be concerned whether a hardware manufacturer is successful or whether they're profitable.

"But I think they should be, because without the hardware manufacturer, the software manufacturer has nothing to publish on."

And speaking more bluntly about Kotick, he said if the Activision CEO didn't appreciate the way Sony is currently running its PlayStation business, "maybe he should design a platform."