Sony Corporation Leans on PlayStation Division Over $2.9B Losses

Sony Corporation, the parent company of Sony Computer Entertainment, is leaning on its PlayStation division for the company's expected ¥220 billion ($2.9 billion) loss. The division is under heavy pressure to deliver better numbers with the release of the PlayStation Vita, which has not only failed to meet sales expectations in Japan, but contributed to major losses for the company.

Shuhei Yoshida, boss of PlayStation's Worldwide Studios says that the division is motivated by the leadership of Sony CEO Kaz Hirai, who lead the division in previous years. Kaz Hirai replaces Howard Stringer this coming April.

"I'll be remiss if I say they won't be because we're part of the big Sony corporation. But when you listen carefully to the announcements by Kaz Hirai, he clearly said that Sony going forward has a two pillar business. We have a really strong vertical integration, one is the digital imaging, with digital and video cameras and the other is games," he said to GamesIndustry.biz.

"Coming from Kaz, saying these two businesses are the pillars of the company, it's a huge expectation for us to kind of lead the business and so I would expect Sony would allow us to invest for the future.

"It's clear messaging, the appointment of Kaz himself is a clear message. The way he has developed software, hardware and services together, I'm sure that's how he's going to develop the business."

Kaz Hirai's new leadership is expected to propel Sony forward in the games business, which was previously not as accepted by senior Sony corporate staff.

The PlayStation Vita launches in Europe and the US next week.