Amazon: ‘It’s hugely important to expand PS4 and Xbox One user bases’

Amazon’sUK games boss Russell Jones has said that the industry needs to work hard to upgrade PS3 and Xbox 360 gamers to Sony and Microsoft’s new machines.

And the new slim PlayStation 4 and Xbox One S – with their lower price points – could help resolve that issue.

It’s been a challenging year for games from a product point of view,” Jones said. We’re really feeling the drop-off in the old generation. Little has come out on old-gen this year so far. FIFA is launching for it, and the LEGO games, but that’s about it. We just haven’t seen the shift up to the next generation of consoles in terms of that volume and user base. Clearly what’s going on with Xbox One S and PS4 slim is the creation of that opportunity. For this quarter ahead of us, it’s hugely important that we expand that user base to keep the category growing.”

Jones added that we need more games that appeal to family and kids in order to drive hardware sales.

We could do with some real blockbuster games that don’t have 16-plus age ratings,” Jones say. Overwatch was a phenomenal game and part of its success was its PEGI 12 rating. It’s been a big driver for console sales.”

Jones also said that Nintendo’s new NX machine could be the answer to the industry’s prayers.

Nintendo’s strong-hold is the family audience,” he said. We’re missing a console platform that’s really designed to drive families. Hopefully, it’s a product that families can engage with. The missing part of the market is a big install base of families and lots of games that are PEGI 12 or below. Nintendo can be a great enabler of that. It has a fantastic track record in that area.”