Fergal Gara has already helpfully pointed out that buying a PlayStation 4 and FIFA 14 separately is still cheaper than picking up a European Xbox One that has a free copy of FIFA 14. Asked if Sony had any plans of doing a similar free game promotion on PS4, Jim Ryan, President and CEO of SCEE, simply said to Metro, “No.”
Probed further with a question asking if they were tempted to make a deal with another game (other than The Playroom), Ryan responded:
Why should we do that? Our problem is gonna be matching supply to demand. It’s perfectly rational when a platform holder, or indeed a publisher, runs a pre-order campaign to engage in promotional behavior to dial it up if you feel it’s not where you need it to be. That’s a rational thing for any businessman to do. We’re perfectly happy with where our pre-orders are.
Our problem? We’ve actually had to turn off the day one pre-orders and now we’re onto day two. So why would we go out and add something? Giving away stuff on day one of a new platform launch, in my mind it’s kind of odd.
Referencing how Microsoft has reversed policies of the Xbox One and are in a much better position that at E3, Jim said:
They obviously concluded that they had made some decisions that they needed to change and they did that. I think that it has resulted in there continuing to be some confusion round exactly what they stand for now. And I think there continues to be no ambiguity about what we stand for.
And yes, they have made a number of decisions which reverse some decisions that they previously made. And they feel they have to add FIFA 14 to their pre-orders, but every metric we look at we’re still doing fine. Whether its purchase intent, whether it’s actual pre-orders.
Do you think Sony should throw in a free retail game with the PS4? Let us know in the comments below.
