PS4 Is Not The PS3's "Successor" Says Sony. Wait What?

One of the problems of being a large entity like Sony that operates in all the different regions of the world with separate headquarters and management systems is that they can says things that don’t line up with the corporate strategy. In fact, it’s only been in the last month that a Sony exec accidentally leaked the existence of Gran Turismo 6 for the PS3. Now Sony’s Middle East general manager is the latest to make some head scratching statements when speaking about the PlayStation 4 and believes that

the PS4 is ‘not a successor’ to the PS3.

Wait, what? The PlayStation 4 is not the successor the PlayStation 3? Lets talk, after the jump.

According to Fisser, the PS4 will be a great edition to the PlayStation family which currently consists of the PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita and even PlayStation Portable. With more than 70 million PS3 units, it’s no surprise that the PlayStation 3 will continue to go strong long after the PS4’s launch and that developers won’t suddenly shift focus to next generation, thanks to the already established installed base of the PS3. Taking that into consideration, the PS4 will certainly be a great edition to the PlayStation family but to not consider the PS4 a successor to the PS3 is a bit absurd.

The name alone marks that the PS4 is the next generation console from Sony, here to replace the PS3. Equally, Sony is investing heavily into the PS4’s cloud capabilities so that it can stream PS3 games since it will not be able to natively play back the games. This again is being done so that the PS4 can replace/succeed the PS3.

Now, it’s worth noting that one exec’s statement does not convey an entire corporate strategy. However, it’s easy to see how quickly this can be taken out of context. If the last two weeks has been any indication with the ‘always on’ debacle from Microsoft and their high level employee who tweeted about it, is that Social Media can be a minefield and execs should be clear with their statements. Sony must also distill any theory in consumer minds that the PS4 is not the true successor and that something else is not around the corner. This could result in Microsoft taking away would be PS4 owners with their next generation console as surely it will be dubbed a successor to the Xbox 360.

So while I don’t give much thought to the above statement and fully believe that the PlayStation 4 is the true successor to the PS3 with no other consoles planned from Sony for the next few years, Sony execs need to do a better job at controlling the corporate message.