Tretton: "People don't respect confidentiality"
Sony president laments E3 leaks and the 'watering down' of official announcements
Sony's US president Jack Tretton has said that people in the games business don't respect confidentiality, as company secrets are leaked ahead of time, watering down official announcements.
Sony's big reveal of the PSP Go was leaked before E3 this year, with video footage, software titles and an interview with product marketing boss John Koller all ruining the company's planned presentation on Tuesday of last week.
"People don’t respect confidentiality in this industry," said Tretton, talking to CNBC. "It’s tough enough to keep a secret within your own company, much less when you speak to third parties."
"This is an industry that has trouble focusing on today," he added. "We want to constantly talk about tomorrow. You have to prepare for people to know things in advance.
"The frustrating thing is they only know a part of the story and that opens up a lot of conjecture and misinformation that ultimately waters down the reality when you roll it out."
Tretton also addressed expectations of a USD 100 price cut for the PlayStation 3, stating that Sony would not be pressured into reducing the price of its luxury console, even by third-party and business partners.
"I can’t remember a day that people who have no stake in the profitability of our company have not called for a price cut. I think everybody but us would love to see it given away for free," he said.
"We’ll do everything we can do to make our pricing relevant. But remember cheapest isn’t always the most successful. It’s what you get for your dollar."