If Sony is planning to release a PS4 sometime in the near future, then it certainly won't hinder the support for the current PlayStation 3. Speaking to the UK branch of GameSpot, PlayStation VP of hardware marketing John Koller confirmed Sony's commitment to the current generation PlayStation.
That means we are looking at continued support for the PS3 for at least "the next few years."
"A lot of great content is coming," Koller said. "And over the next 2-3 years, the PS3 has got an incredible lineup. That consumer coming in this fall is going to really have an opportunity to have great content and what we believe to be the best content in the industry."
Koller continued, "We're going to continue supporting the PS3 for the next few years. Absolutely."
"And we're going to continue supporting it not only that long, but as long as there is a development spigot that's running hot," he promised. "And I can tell you right now, the development spigot for PS3 is very hot. A lot of great games coming. Same thing with PS2…it's kind of stuck around as that old warrior, many years after its launch. But there's still games launching for it."
The current lineup for the PlayStation 3 has several high profile exclusive titles on the horizon including PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale, The Last of Us, and Beyond: Two Souls. Sony is clearly hoping these titles will attract consumers during a holiday season that will see fellow competitors Nintendo release the Wii U and Microsoft offer an even cheaper Xbox 360 console.
So does the support for the PS3 mean we won't see a next-gen PlayStation anytime soon? Rumors of the PS4 have recently cooled, but I'd bet Sony is continuing to work on a next-gen console. Regardless of the PS4 status, there is still such an already established market for the PS3 that it'd be silly for Sony to simply abandon it. As Koller said, we'll likely see continued support for the PS3 right alongside the launch of the PlayStation 4.
For now, however, it seems Sony is content with the brand new smaller and lighter PS3, which was revealed at the Tokyo Game Show last week.
