Speaking at the GamesBeat Summit this week, the former CEO of Electronic Arts, John Riccitiello, said that Sony ‘deserves’ the success it has enjoyed with PS4 so far, stating the platform holder ‘f***ing nailed it’ with the console.
Riccitiello, who is now head of Unity, spoke a length about the punch-up between Sony and Microsoft in the on-going console battle:
"That’s one of the more – in my opinion – depressing stories in the last couple of years," said Riccitiello.
"In the battle of big ideas … there was a clash of ideas that really separated Sony and Microsoft. They actually had very similar architecture that they were trying to bring to the table. But Microsoft focused … a lot on entertainment beyond gaming. Microsoft was trying to [compete against] Apple. They didn’t feel gaming was big enough to justify the pent-up desire … to have the recognition they wanted as an innovator."
The executive went on to praise Sony for putting the gamer first in its plans for the PS4, which has resulted in the console gaining a comfortable lead over its leading rival, the Xbox One.
"Sony just said, ‘We’ve made the best f**king game system we could’ … partly because they didn’t have the resources to do more about it," he commented. "Microsoft was focused on the shot after the one they needed to make, putting the 7-ball in the corner pocket, but they missed the first shot and didn’t get another shot after it.
"Sony focused on the shot they needed to make, which was win the hearts and minds of the gamer.
"The broader scope of entertainment might be a bigger idea, but not with an unfocused execution. A tight execution on the 50 million people that matter, which are the people currently lapping up consoles … Sony f**king nailed it, and they deserve the victory."