Speaking to IndustryGamers, PlayStation software senior brand manager Scott McCarthy said that the company is not obsessed with overtaking the Xbox 360 in lifetime sales.
“So do we pass Xbox 360?” he asked. “At the moment, I think we’re trying to just keep up with inventory and trying to move as many units as we can through the channel.”
“It’s also one of those things where, do we notice what Microsoft is doing? Obviously, they are our competition. But is it like we surpass Microsoft or we fail? No. Our goal is to be profitable and we’re going to achieve that this year and do even better next year.”
“That’s been Nintendo’s position for years. We have a very aggressive plan this year. And when we’re profitable we’re happy. If we happen to close the gap with Microsoft in the meantime, then that’s good too.”
Although it may not be the company’s primary intention to catch Microsoft, it is doing a pretty good job, having closed the gap significantly over the past two years. Global PS3 sales are sitting on 47.9 million compared to the Xbox 360’s 50 million. Considering the PS3 was released a year later than the Xbox 360, we can call it a roughly even spread.
McCarthy does take a bit of a swipe at the Xbox 360, saying “PS3 has superior technology inside the box, and this is going to be the year where we make a lot of noise based on the exclusive titles you’re going to be able to play.”
