Sony: Our first-party dev is as big as Microsoft and Nintendo's combined

SCEA hardware marketing head John Koller has claimed that Sony's first-party development division is as big as that employed by Nintendo and Microsoft. In total.

"Our development studios - the Worldwide Studios team - is as large as Microsoft and Nintendo's combined," he said, talking at GDC.

Koller said that Sony's first-party roster for the coming years would feature a mix of fresh ideas and surefire successes.

"We have a tremendously creative group, and a line-up for the next few years that will bring a lot of new IP to the market, but will also being a lot of [tried and tested] franchises and new iterations to the PS3 in particular, but also PSP," the exec added.

Koller didn't give a figure on how many people were employed in Sony's Worldwide Studio division.

Both PS3 and PSP's first-party slate for 2009 is looking nice and healthy, with games like God of War III, Heavy Rain and inFamous already hoving into view for PS3, and a new MotorStorm, a LittleBigPlanet SKU and more on the way for PSP.