OTX Research analyst Nick Williams believes, based on a study, that one-third of God of War III sales will go to people that didn’t have a PlayStation 3 prior to release. If his projection is proven correct, Sony finally have a reason to break out the champagne bottles they’ve been keeping on ice since LittleBigPlanet’s launch.
Williams’ God of War III comment was at the tail end of a larger comment (via Gamasutra) about how the Xbox 360 and PS3 would perform in 2009:
… the PS2’s continued success more than eight years after launch suggests that Sony is thinking long term with the PS3. If Sony can continue to bring down hardware manufacturing costs, it seems likely that it will offer a price cut by the end of Summer 2009.
The launch of God of War III in late 2009/early 2010 will mark a pivotal moment for Sony. But in order to ensure that this game is a hardware sales driver, the cost of the base-level PS3 will need to be in the same ballpark as the Xbox 360 and Wii.
According to our latest consumer tracking study, only two in three people who plan to purchase God of War III currently own a PS3.
So, yeah, games with bold, brutal protagonists that are armed to the teeth sell hardware. Microsoft should try out this strategy and see where it gets them.
