Kotick slams PS3 for â??highâ?? dev costs

Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick has warned Sony that the PS3’s high development costs are dissuading developers to work on the console.

Kotick’s comments were followed up with criticisms of the PS3’s retail price, its current market share and what he believes are inferior returns on investments compared to the Xbox 360.

Finally, he has made the extraordinary public claim that Activision Blizzard, the biggest publisher in the world, may pull the plug on supporting Sony’s home console.

“I’m getting concerned about Sony; the PlayStation 3 is losing a bit of momentum and they don’t make it easy for me to support the platform,” he said, speaking in an interview with UK news group The Times.

“It’s expensive to develop for the console, and the Wii and the Xbox are just selling better. Games generate a better return on invested capital on the Xbox than on the PlayStation,” he said.

“[Sony has] to cut the [PS3’s retail] price, because if they don’t, the attach rates are likely to slow. If we are being realistic, we might have to stop supporting Sony.”