Sony: PSP Failing Due to Overreliance on Third-Party Developers

The first step to solving a problem is admitting you have one — and then blaming it on someone else. Sony knows their sleek little portable has fallen out of gaming’s good graces, and they know exactly why. It’s those darn third-party developers.

“One of the issues when you rely on a business model that relies on 25 per cent games from Sony and 75 per cent from other publishers is that if they start to refocus, you can’t recover that space because you don’t have the internal capacity, so we’ve probably suffered from that,” admitted Zeno Colaco, VP of publisher and developer relations for Sony Europe.

So, how does Sony plan to pull the PSP out of its downward spiral? By encouraging developers to churn out smaller, cheaper titles for the PSP, so that it will move beyond its current position as a PS Me Too.

Additionally, Colaco noted that the PSP’s third-party game sales are traditionally greater than those of Nintendo’s dual-screened touching machine, and that the PSP’s 37 million units sold is nothing to scoff at.

And thus, Sony hopes to bypass ??? altogether and reach profit. Colaco concluded by saying that the PSP could very well reach the ripe old age of 10 years before seeking retirement benefits.

For Kombo’s thoughts on the PSP, check out our spirited back and forth on the topic.