"We're not sure how quickly the uptake of the next generation will go", says Konami marketing exec
Konami's flagship football game PES 2014 won't appear on PS4 or Xbox One due to questions over the adoption rate of new consoles, a company spokesperson has claimed.
Manorito Hosoda, a marketing executive at Konami, told CVG during a recent hands-on event that the firm "wants to make a good game" with its new engine before migrating to next-gen consoles.
"We're not sure how quickly the uptake of the next generation will go", Hosoda said.
"The fan base is with the current gen, and before moving on we want to make a good game with the new engine."
Given FIFA's current sales advantage over PES (recent versions have outsold it by over 20:1 in the UK, although the global figure is closer), it may seem illogical to give EA a free run at PS4 and Xbox One during launch.
Konami's argument is that current gen consoles have an installed base of far more than 100 million customers, whereas the launch games on next-gen systems will be sold to a significantly smaller audience. One counter-argument is that launch games tend to gain more exposure and enjoy less competition on shelves.
Another representative for the game, Jon Murphy, acknowledged the dilemma.
"We're kind of damned if we do and damned if we don't. I think we're in a slightly different position [to FIFA], because we've been criticised in the past about producing a 'next gen' version when we weren't ready".
Murphy's comments relate to the early days of PES on PS3, where Konami struggled to adapt its PS2 engine.
"Perhaps we're in a slightly different position to another company in that sense", says Murphy.
"We can't get away with producing a version that isn't absolutely shit-hot on next generation.
"I think we want to be confident when we do bring something out and not in a position where people are criticising us for producing a sloppy, second rate port. We're going to produce something that puts us back to where we should be in terms of quality".
Source: CVG
