FORTUNE -- The battle between a new generation of video game consoles is, in reality, still months away. Consumers won't be choosing between Microsoft's Xbox One and Sony's Playstation 4 until later this fall, when both devices become available. But the contest between the two has already heated up online, as the details of both devices have come out. Microsoft's media-friendly box will cost $499, while Sony's game-oriented machine will cost $399. Fortune caught up with Jack Tretton, president and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment America, to talk about how the company sees its position going into another round for dominance in the $78 billion games market. A lightly edited transcript follows:
From GameIndustry.biz: "When Citadel: Forged With Fire launches this fall, the release of the online sandbox RPG will be a milestone not just for the developer, Toronto-based Blue Isle Studios, but also for Jack Tretton, former CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment America.
Since leaving Sony five years ago, Tretton has turned his eye toward investment in the games industry. He is a strategic partner at Ocean IQ Ventures, as well as a managing partner in Interactive Gaming Ventures, two outfits with a remit to invest in gaming intellectual properties rather than game studios. While IGV has yet to announce the projects it's backing, Ocean IQ invested in three Blue Isle properties back in 2016. Two of those games -- Valley, and Slender: The Arrival -- received Switch ports earlier this year. The last of them is Citadel: Forged With Fire, which debuted in Steam Early Access two years ago this week and is slated for a full release on Steam as well as PlayStation 4 and Xbox One October 11."
Former SCEA boss Jack Tretton said Sony is well position for next-gen as the current market leader but will face much greater competition this time around.
Naturally, though this seems to be part of the cycle. Not only are Sony going to face increased competition from MS, but Nintendo are in a very strong position. Plus the growth of PC gaming and cloud gaming.
It’s amazing enough to see PS4 doing on par with PS2 in the same timeframe when PS4 has had far more competition than PS2 did.
PS5 will most likely break the 100 million mark as well
That's every gen, but i agree that technology and popularity have both increased and the gaming landscape is evolving faster than ever. However, Sony has sustained enormous gaming success for a number years and the popularity of the PlayStation brand is at an all-time high. Not only that, but gaming is a larger part of Sony's business model than ever before, by a mile. MS for example makes the vast majority of its profits outside of gaming, but PlayStation is the engine that drives Sony. When Sony restructured back in 2013 they decided that gaming was the lifeblood of the company, they realized that gaming saved the company, and they went all in.
Sony may have more gaming competition than ever, but they are also more committed to gaming than ever. This entire generation has also seen PlayStation dominate the market and build an enormous infrastructure of customers, technology, and successful new IPs. Sony is the only console provider to seriously enter the VR space and for all the talk about being behind in streaming, people forget that Sony was well ahead of its competitors and really ahead of its time with the inception of PSNow. Also, Sony has amassed a ridiculous war chest of successful AAA IP this gen. They already boasted an impressive selection of franchises even prior to 2013, but this generation has added hit after hit franchise to deepen their arsenal further. Bloodborne, Until Dawn, Horizon, Spiderman, and Days Gone are already hit new IPs and new franchises like Ghost of Tsushima, Dreams, and Death Stranding are still to come. Not to mention fantastic reboots of games like R&C and God of War. Great new VR franchises like Astro Bot and Firewall, 3rd party games like Predator.
Sony has more established franchises than ever and they are dominating the console and VR space. PS+ has 40 million subscribers, there are hundreds of millions of active PSN accounts and everything we hear about the PS5's infrastructure and technology is great. It seems to me that Sony is in a better position than ever with PlayStation and i expect the unprecedented success to continue from now through next gen proper.
Jack Tretton used to run Sony's PlayStation business in North America. Now he is investing in small game studios and helping them scale.
I'm feeling good about PS4 too
I'm feeling fantastic about it, can't wait until Amazon ships my Killzone bundle to my door
All of us gamers feeling good
He should he made all of us feel good.
Meanwhile.... Don Mattrick quits.... lol.