Could PlayStation get the axe?

Drastic cost-cutting is in Sony's future, and the games division could be one of the business lines on the chopping block.

That's the specter raised by a Times of London piece published Monday, which credits anonymous company sources with news that a massive restructuring program, beginning in a few weeks, will "abolish or fundamentally alter many of Sony's long-established business practices."

That doesn't necessarily mean the end of the PlayStation, but it's hard to see Sony quitting any of its major markets, PlayStation or otherwise. Can you imagine shopping for a TV without checking out the Bravia line, or for a laptop without looking at Vaio?

Although Sony's games division reported improving performance last year, it still lost over $400 million in the third quarter of 2008, and although the PS3 is the most expensive of the three major consoles, it's by far the costliest to produce. After a disappointing holiday season and the prospect of harder economic times on the horizon, could Sony's games division be contemplating a software-only future?

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