PlayStation 4's price and DRM policies not made in response to Xbox One, Sony exec says

The PlayStation 4's price and DRM policies were welcome announcements to those watching Sony's E3 press conference, but they weren't created in response to the same policies for Xbox One, Sony VP of Worldwide Studios Scott Rohde told Polygon in an interview earlier tonight.

"I literally have goosebumps right now, because that was always our plan," Rohde said. "It's something that we believe in. We know gamers come first; we know what they want. I was personally overwhelmed with the massive explosion on Twitter, with everyone essentially begging, 'Please don't do this Sony, please don't do this PlayStation!' It was so hard not to say, right away, 'Well, we never were going to do that, but now let's have a little fun and announce it in a fun way at the PlayStation press conference.'

"Could not believe how much the roof came down with that applause," Rohde added. "It was awesome."

Sony also announced that the PS4 would launch for $399, a good $100 cheaper than the price announced by Microsoft this morning for its Xbox One console. Again, Rohde said Sony had set that lower price well in advance of its competitors.

"I mean, that was such an amazing message," Rohde said. "We kind of had a feeling; we kind of knew we were gonna land a little bit cheaper than those green guys. When it was verified this morning, we've just been walking around with smiles all day."