Sony expects to immediately recoup PS4 hardware loss

Sony expects to be able to immediately make up the loss it will incur when selling PlayStation 4 hardware, the company has said to Eurogamer.

Sony Japan executive Masayasu Ito said the loss, as Sony will sell the PlayStation 4 to customers for less than it costs to manufacture, will be recovered with typical users buying a subscription to PlayStation Plus and at least one launch title.

Eurogamer adds that Sony expects to make a $60 loss on each PlayStation 4 sold for $399, but Ito would not confirm the exact figure.

Ito also added that the losses Sony will make from selling PlayStation 4's will be less than the company incurred selling the PlayStation 3 at launch.

In August, Sony executive Andrew House said the PlayStation 4 "will not generate anything like the losses we did for the PlayStation 3."

One of the reasons Sony expects to save money is in its decision to use off-the-shelf computer parts. The PlayStation 4 features an APU developed with AMD, featuring an 8-core 64-bit processor and a custom Radeon GPU.

The PlayStation 4 will launch on November 15 in North America for $399, and on November 29 in Europe for €399/£349.