Sony boss: abandoning PS3 would be "maker's ego"

Sony Japan president Hiroshi Kawano has said he doesn't expect gamers to jump from PlayStation 3 to PlayStation 4 immediately just because the platform holder has a new console out.

In a Famitsu interview translated by Kotaku, Kawano said Sony doesn't want to just abandon the PlayStation 3.

"It’s been seven years since the release of the PS3 and the console continues to sell at a constant pace, plus we have many upcoming titles,” he said. “We have no intention of immediately shifting from the PS3 to the PS4."

Kawano seemed hopeful but not demanding that gamers will make the transition rapidly.

"With the 2014 launch of our cloud service in the US allowing users to play PS3 games on the PS4, some people may switch consoles from the PS3 to the PS4. But that’ll be a gradual process," he said.

"And to say ‘we’re releasing a new console, so trade in your old ones for it’ would be a maker’s ego talking, plain and simple."

The PlayStation 4 is expected before the end of the year.