Back at gamescom, Sony had confirmed that PlayStation pre-orders had crossed the 1 million mark, with the company saying at TGS that they expect to move 5 million PS4s by the end of this fiscal year. While at Eurogamer Expo, Fergal Gara, VP & Managing Director at SCE UK and Ireland, spoke to CVG where he revealed, “At gamescom the global number was over one million units, that’s “over”, and the number has grown substantially since then.”
Looking directly at the UK and PS4 stock, Gara said, “Within the first two to three months from launch, we will undoubtedly have ample volume to service any forecasts we have on sales. However, there may well be tight supplies at Christmas, I can see a bit of a pinch point around that time.” He then added, “Everyone who has put down a pre-order so far will definitely get one before Christmas, as long as nothing goes terribly wrong.”
Further clarifying that last statement about how everyone who has a pre-order getting a PS4 before Christmas (even though they stopped day 1 guarantees in August), Fergal confirmed that, yes, they will be getting theirs “and if things keep going well we’ll delight even more people on day one. We don’t want to over-promise and under-deliver, we want to do the opposite.”
Past Christmas, Gara expects the PS4 to “be in free supply at the start of the year,” and with PS4 manufacturing “at least in line with expectations,” it “means that I’m trying to get as many systems for the UK that I possibly can,” with the systems “on ships and coming this way.”
Moving the conversation to the PS4 and Xbox One battle this holiday, Gara said that he thinks the Xbox One’s 7 day advantage on the UK is “a moot point really, we’re effectively launching at the same time. I don’t think seven days is going to have an advantage or disadvantage.” While on the subject of the PS4’s lower price he said, “Price isn’t everything. It’s an advantage, but it can move over time. Value to the consumer is everything, which is price and quality of content for that price. We feel in very good shape on that front. We’re really pleased.”
Finally, Gara addressed the potential of a PS4 and PS Vita bundle by saying, “At the moment we’re not thinking about a one-box solution. If we wanted to, it would be an easy thing to do, but we’re not right now.” Of course, this goes against what Jim Ryan said previously: “it’s the sort of thing we’re discussing.”
Do you think the PS4 having a lower price than the Xbox One is everything? Let us know in the comments below.
