Shuhei Yoshida: Sony's not sure why PS4 is selling so well

Status
Not open for further replies.
T

Talon

Member
In a recent Eurogamer interview

That's a very impressive number just nine months into the console's life. Last November we were all hoping the new consoles would sell well, but this is beyond most people's predictions. It suggests something different is going on this time than we've seen in the past. What do you think is the reason for it doing so well so quickly?

Shuhei Yoshida: The 10m sell through in the first nine months is well beyond what we had hoped for. As you know, we have struggled to keep up with demand of PS4 for so many months. It was hard to find and purchase PS4. Now we are able to supply units so in every territory I believe you can find PS4. So we just managed to catch up with demand.

It's just beyond our imagination. We are so happy. But I for one am a bit nervous because we do not completely understand what's happening. You need to understand why your products are selling well so you can plan for the future, right? It defied the conventional thinking. Lots of people thought the dedicated game hardware might not be needed going forward, but still lots of people are very excited. When you see the new games coming out and being announced this E3 and Gamescom, I think there's a good enough reason for a gamer to believe this is something worth investing in.

I agree, but I don't think that explains the speed of sales.

Shuhei Yoshida: Yeah. Actually I'm asking journalists who ask that question their opinion.

I don't know. I was hoping you would know.

Shuhei Yoshida: I'm asking marketing people to tell us why. They've been to people who already purchased, and some of the early data was amazing in terms of the number of people who didn't used to own PS3 have already purchased PS4. So we are getting lots of new customers coming into PlayStation. And some people never purchased any last-gen hardware: PS3, or Xbox 360 or Nintendo Wii. So where did they come from?

Why buy now then?

Shuhei Yoshida: Well, yeah. I don't know. As soon as we see a great sales number, our instinct tells us we should be concerned about future sales, right? Are we exhausting all the core gamers? If we sell this number of units, there are no more consumers we can sell to. That's a really terrifying prospect. So we want to understand who are these consumers who we do not necessarily consider core gamers, who are purchasing PS4 and why they are doing it and what they are doing with PS4, so we can create a bit more of a positive future, rather than saying, wow, we have sold to every single core gamer. So that's what we are doing.
Click to expand...

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2...itas-no-show-and-the-mystery-of-10m-ps4-sales
 
Because it's a great console with good games?

I don't know, just a wild uneducated guess here. Could be because it smells good.
 
Frankly, I'm shocked it has sold 10 million units with such a dearth of appealing software.

I want one, but not until there are 3-4 retail games I'd buy
 
well the xbox one completly botched everything, you had a good price point, good name, nice advertising.

You didn't do anything Great per say, you just didn't do anything wrong which made you the console of choice.
 
iwvPdEPC0KGEh.gif
 
That's... surprisingly honest.

I have the same concern: That we may be exhausting a larger range of all potential buyers rather quickly, and that the drop-off could be very strong. Hope not.


NexusGamer said:
A bit of a "playing dumb" comment
Click to expand...



I don't know, it seems like a valid concern. Something along the lines of "what if we are exhausting the pool of potential buyers already?"
 
I get the points he brings up, but even after reading the article twice, I'm still confused as to why he doesn't get it.

PS: I guess this is beyond even what they expected, but that's a pretty candid admission.
 
distantmantra said:
Frankly, I'm shocked it has sold 10 million units with such a dearth of appealing software.

I want one, but not until there are 3-4 retail games I'd buy
Click to expand...

Clearly there's enough appealing software for a lot of people.

I've seen this on GAF time and again, people buy consoles largely for 3rd party multiplats like Battlefield, COD, AC etc.

The exclusives that everyone gets worked up for are icing on the cake for the average gamer (relatively speaking).
 
Good price for good tech. Once the core audience found that out, it was word of mouth to other people that are not so in-the-loop.

Or...I have no idea...it has bunnies inside of it.
 
I think it shows that a lot of the "wisdom" about mobile taking over was hogwash.

I mean, PS4 selling like hotcakes, iPad growth declining. That's mud in the eye of every analyst in recent years.

(Although this failed prediction seems true for Japan).
 
It doesn't just boil down to one thing, it's the sum of all its parts.

Despite the somewhat slow start for big AAA retail games, the PS4 also has a great and diverse library of digital and free to play games that offer a nice alternative to Ubisoft titles. It's attractive powerful hardware that's priced right.

There's also a bit of a mob mentality I think, the PS4 is just the "it" item right now. Everyone sees their friends buying and playing it so they want one to, I think we underestimate how much that played into the 360 success and how much it's affecting the current trend.
 
Last gen lasted too long.....demand for new consoles.
Microsoft mucked it up pretty badly while Sony did the opposite.
 
Well Microsoft did their damndest job to drive consumers away for the first few months starting with DRM and continuing onto Kinect, $500, less powerful, etc etc. No one even knows the Wii U exists so I guess Nintendo might as well not even be competing. So then all that leaves is the PS4.
 
It's all about the marketing. They really nailed it leading up to launch.

At least that's the way I see it.
 
The fact that it's good and cheap(relatively) new hardware that wasn't a total fuck up in some way was probably more than enough for people who had already had enough of the stone age last gen consoles.

ghst said:
i guess the latest NPD came as something of a relief then.
Click to expand...

Didn't they have the best selling hardware?
 
TheXfactor said:
well the xbox one completly botched everything, you had a good price point, good name, nice advertising.

You didn't do anything Great per say, you just didn't do anything wrong which made you the console of choice.
Click to expand...

I don't think so, Sony said about half of the PS4 install base didn't have a PS3, they're also getting customers who didn't even own a last gen console.

The current PS4 hype is that of Wii/iPhone proportions, people just want something that is popular, the PS4 announcement trailer had 30 million views, more than any super bowl ad during that month.
 
distantmantra said:
Frankly, I'm shocked it has sold 10 million units with such a dearth of appealing software.

I want one, but not until there are 3-4 retail games I'd buy
Click to expand...

They currently have an attach rate of 3:1. And that's a figure that's growing every time they update that statistic. So games aren't really an issue.
 
Competition isn't strong and the price of entry is affordable. Sony is off to a fast and strong start. MS is stepping up their efforts.

SolidSnakex said:
They currently have an attach rate of 3:1. And that's a figure that's growing every time they update that statistic. So games aren't really an issue.
Click to expand...
But the 3:1 includes digital games. The poster you replied to said 3-4 retail games worth buying.
 
ChuyMasta said:
Because the competition sucks?
Click to expand...

He can't SAY that though. I think that's what anyone surprised by this isn't getting. He can't go out there and say "MS handed launch to us on a silver platter". At best anything unrelated to Xbox he said would come off as a humblebrag or worse.
 
xemumanic said:
I get the points he brings up, but even after reading the article twice, I'm still confused as to why he doesn't get it.

PS: I guess this is beyond even what they expected, but that's a pretty candid admission.
Click to expand...

i think he gets it. i just think he doesn't want to jinx it. when you're on a roll, just chill & go with it :) ...
 
I'm glad to see that Sony is confused as I am haha. I think it's just there is a demand for game consoles, and Sony clearly provided the best option of the three folks would consider (price, power, etc.). I personally don't find the PS4 library all that appealing, but clearly folks are buying it, so why not?
 
I'm kinda worried that sales might slow down a lot in the following years. I sure as hell hope they don't though, Sony has a lot of great IPs and developers to keep the console fresh with good and varied games no matter the tastes. I just hope Microsoft can start doing well as well, as much as I love playing JRPGs on my Sony consoles, I like Halo, Forza and many of the Xbox games as well and want them all to succeed. This is also true for Nintendo and Valve's Steam.
 
it's maybe a difficult question for yosp because the answer is that it's because it's the easiest, cheapest, best way to play the big third party franchises that control this section of the market, whereas his first party department kinda works round the edges.
 
I'm also surprised as all of the really meaty games have yet to release on the system yet. Certainly at launch and the next few months it wasn't a compelling sell to me. Even with the big guns coming out next year I'm completely fine just waiting until they hit. No need to jump in prematurely. But I do have to thank the early adopters for what will benefit me next year when I do buy one- reduced costs and bundles. Thanks!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

Sony's Shuhei Yoshida: "I'm Sorry I Was Wrong" About PlayStation VR2
2 3
149
12K
mckmas8808 replied
Shuhei Yoshida says Horizon Forbidden West didn't sell as well as he expected
Game Dev  2 3 4 5 6
288
15K
viveks86 replied
[Game Developer] Shuhei Yoshida warns subscription services could become 'dangerous' for developers
2
74
228
POKEYCLYDE replied
Shuhei Yoshida: Sony Knew Exclusive Games Were Crucial for Success of PlayStation 1
News Hardware 
4
621
Gamerguy84 replied
Shuhei Yoshida Says Japan Studio Closed Due to PlayStation Not Wanting AA Titles
News  2 3
145
6K
Mibu no ookami replied
Top Bottom