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PlayStation 4 Camera In Short Supply Thanks To Twitch
Sony hasn't manufactured enough PlayStation Cameras to satisfy consumer demand and says it's due to the popularity of the PS4's Twitch livestreaming features.
So far, Sony says that the attach rate of the PS Camera is around 15 percent, translating to approximately 900,000 units sold. That's impressive for an aftermarket peripheral. As a result, many game retailers are completely out of stock of the unit.
SCEA president of worldwide studios Shuhei Yoshida revealed to Polygon that the shortage was due to the company's underestimating how popular Twitch gameplay broadcasting would be on the console.
"It was a total miscalculation by our marketing guys," Yoshida said. "They came up with the initial demand in that conventional way and it was very, very low. Using the camera to broadcast yourself is much, much more fun they they thought and they didn't quite get it."
Yoshida went on to say that the company has ramped up PS Camera production and that new stock should be hitting store shelves soon.
Our Take:
It's just another indication of how much of a force Twitch, and livestreaming in general, has become in video games. Very few "experts," including me - and apparently including Sony - predicted how big console streaming would become.
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