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Japanese game publisher "players who used to buy PlayStation versions of its games are now gradually shifting to purchasing the PC edition"

Lognor

Banned
I mean, that's what happens when you can't find a PS5 in stock to save your life. I shifted from PS4 to PC this gen because of it. Had I been able to find one in stock, I never would have left the ecosystem.
Ps hasn't been a huge success in Japan since ps2. Ps3 did poorly, ps4 only did slightly better and ps5 is on par with ps4. So it's not solely due to ps5 stock. This shift was happening already, just to mobile and switch (and 3ds before it)
 

Nautilus

Banned
Well yeah, its only natural given how abysmal have PS5 software and hardware sales have been so far.

A lot of gamers and developers there(Falcom included, which is extremely surprising), have started to flock to the Switch, if they haven't already.PC getting some of that migration only makes sense too.
 

ShirAhava

Plays with kids toys, in the adult gaming world
People keep repeating the lie that Japan is over home consoles

But Nintendo aside the last home console that truly catered to the Japanese market was the PS3

Japan didn't abandon home consoles home consoles (mainly sony since xbox isn't a factor in Nippon) abandoned Japan
 

ethomaz

Banned
PC is a growing market;
PS brand is declining and PS5 is hard to find;
Sony censor games in a country where lewd software have a big role;
Water is wet.
Reality is that PS5 is selling way better than PS4… that is not a declive like you tried to say.

It is just PS5 is hard to find and so people are finding alternatives.
 
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Dr. Claus

Vincit qui se vincit
Are there a bunch of PS5s just sitting on shelves there?

But sure, Japan has been moving away from home consoles in general for many years.

They experienced a sharp decline around 2016 when they moved HQs from Japan to California, USA. This also caused a number of changes such as forcing Japanese devs to communicate in English to the new HQ and hiring their own translators as Cali Sony would not provide any (something that was not the case with Sony Japan HQ).

Add to this the number of hypocritical, regressive, and forced censorship on primarily Japanese related media from the west - people were understandably pissed and started to move away from Sony. Doesn‘t help that most of the games were released uncensored on Nintendo, a handheld/home console hybrid and on PC, which most Japanese already own.

People can keep trying to dismiss these claims, but the reality is the modern ownership of SIE has pushed away the Japanese market, fans, and devs by the droves with their regressive control. Whether or not this affects you and your thoughts the company/platform only comes down to how much you actually cared about these games. For me, it was the primary reason to buy Sony over the competitors for years. Without that, all it has left are exclusives which are majorly hit or miss for me over the last few years.
 
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And what makes you think PC is growing in Japan?
Oh, PC is definitely growing in Japan. But then again, so is Xbox. Once you're at the bottom there's nowhere to go but up, after all.

PC gaming will keep getting bigger, but it'll just end up carving out it's own little niche, mostly thanks to streaming and esports. The real threat to consoles in Japan is mobile gaming.

No way.

Japan and PC is not a thing in reality. Most of the people there don't know what a PC is and how to use it.
That's just nonsense. These Japanese might not use PCs as much as people in other countries, especially for gaming, but the idea that they don't even know what they are is just ridiculous.
 
What more can sony really do? Japan prefers mobile and nintendo and are moving away from traditional consoles for years now. I'm not sure a few exclusives is really changing that. Sony have found a market and that is in the west hence why we see so much stock going to place like the UK. Western market is the reason sony managed to make a comeback, japan kept them in the game somewhat but just not enough to make playstation as big as it is today from where they where with the ps3.

Nope, it's not Sony's fault. It's Sony's own prophecy

Let's step back,

- Back in PS2 days, Sony OWNED Japan market. Then because of Xbox, they got baited into this graphic war with MS. They came up with PS3 with difficult to work with architecture. Plus because of the emphasis on graphic, development cost increased tremendously. Many Japanese game developers struggled to keep up

- BUT instead of investing in Japan, Sony made the decision to invest more in the U.S, they saw the U.S as the bigger potential, rightly so. This is when many of Sony's current great IP were born, God of War, Uncharted, Infamous, TLOU etc. They still invested in Japan, but lacklusterly, Japan Studio made a masterpiece, Demon's Souls, but didn't get a second look by Sony's top boss. Meanwhile Nintendo was able to win Japan back with Wii and DS/3DS

- Sony actually got a chance again to win Japan back again with PS4 when Nintendo fumbled with WiiU. You could see many of Japan game developers flourishing again. But even then they did not increase their investment in Japan. Very minimum funding for Japan Studio or even exclusives from other 3rd party Japan studios. Bloodborne was another masterpiece, but where's the sequel?!?!?......It didn't get a sequel, because it only sold 2-3M for the first game. Sony wanted a home-run right of the bat like TLOU, so they kept increasing their investment in the West; We see more Sony's Western IP; Horizon, Spider-Man, Ghost of Tsushima, etc

- Then they are ready to move on with PS5, BUT they sacrificed PS4 early and bet all in PS5. They shifted most of Japan's PS5 quota to the West, because the West is and has always been their priority. They shut down their Japan Studio who co-developed Demon's Souls ....and the very sad irony is, a few months later Sony bought Blue Point, an American studio who remakes Demon's Souls.....

So, don't blame Japan's market for Playstation demise there, it's Sony's fault. They prioritize the West, and treat Japan market as a step child, so Playstation deserves its fate
 
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JayK47

Member
This is what I have started to do. I picked up Tales of Arise on PC. I played all previous Tales games on consoles. Not sure what I will do when I want to pre-order a limited edition and it can only be purchased on console. Most Gust titles are still available on PS4 and have limited editions. The way this generation is playing out, I may have to skip it. Or at least wait for the PS5 Pro or whatever.
 

RoadHazard

Gold Member
Nope, it's not Sony's fault. It's Sony's own prophecy

Let's step back,

- Back in PS2 days, Sony OWNED Japan market. Then because of Xbox, they got baited into this graphic war with MS. They came up with PS3 with difficult to work with architecture. Plus because of the emphasis on graphic, development cost increased tremendously. Many Japanese game developers struggled to keep up

- BUT instead of investing in Japan, Sony made the decision to invest more in the U.S, they saw the U.S as the bigger potential, rightly so. This is when many of Sony's current great IP were born, God of War, Uncharted, Infamous, TLOU etc. They still invested in Japan, but lacklusterly, Japan Studio made a masterpiece, Demon's Souls, but didn't get a second look by Sony's top boss. Meanwhile Nintendo was able to win Japan back with Wii and DS/3DS

- Sony actually got a chance again to win Japan back again with PS4 when Nintendo fumbled with WiiU. You could see many of Japan game developers flourishing again. But even then they did not increase their investment in Japan. Very minimum funding for Japan Studio or even exclusives from other 3rd party Japan studios. Bloodborne was another masterpiece, but where's the sequel?!?!?......It didn't get a sequel, because it only sold 2-3M for the first game. Sony wanted a home-run right of the bat like TLOU, so they kept increasing their investment in the West; We see more Sony's Western IP; Horizon, Spider-Man, Ghost of Tsushima, etc

- Then they are ready to move on with PS5, BUT they sacrificed PS4 early and bet all in PS5. They shifted most of Japan's PS5 quota to the West, because the West is and has always been their priority. They shut down their Japan Studio who co-developed Demon's Souls ....and the very sad irony is, a few months later Sony bought Blue Point, an American studio who remakes Demon's Souls.....

So, don't blame Japan's market for Playstation demise there, it's Sony's fault. They prioritize the West, and treat Japan market as a step child, so Playstation deserves its fate

You do know that Demon's Souls and Bloodborne were made by From Software? Japan Studio provided technical assistance, but they did not make those games like you make it sound.
 
Don't know if it's a trend but that's what I'm doing and that's the whole meaning behind my curator group on steam. I‘m also buying games I already finished on pc too.
 

Buggy Loop

Member
Japanese devs finally waking up

5ajbfn.png


They left money on the table for so many years by being dense motherfuckers.
 
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KiteGr

Member
I have a ps5, but I feel like I'll also make the jump to Pc once I get a decent rig (you can't find those ether).
I like collecting my games and going for retail whenever I can, but with the recent push of consoles towards digital I see little reason sticking to them.

Besides, PS5 games never seem to go on discount and cost a fortune even when buying used, so even with me having a PS5 for the better half of the year, I barely have any games for it and mostly cleaning backlog.
 
You do know that Demon's Souls and Bloodborne were made by From Software? Japan Studio provided technical assistance, but they did not make those games like you make it sound.

I do know that, what I meant is that Sony barely invested in their Japan Studio and Playstation overall ecosystem in Japan. They kept buying Western studios, releasing new first party IPs, and yet they hardly do that for Japanese games/market. The few successful games they had like Demon's Souls and Bloodborne were one and done, never given a chance to grow into a franchise
 

Smasher89

Member
Payed online with dead playerbase, or free online with healthy playerbase, choice is easy and I'm glad even publisher starts to take notice, hopefully in the long run pressuring for the removal of said paywall.
 

BaneIsPain

Member
If it's true, let Sony management rethink their strategy. Hopefully, going hard on exclusives in the future. This will get better eventually.
 

Wildebeest

Member
This all seems very vague. I don't know why people are worrying about Japanese people flocking to PC because of God of War and Horizon Zero Dawn. Are these western games massive in Japan?
 

Porcile

Member
Having built my own last year I can tell you that PCs are fucking expensive in Japan. I don't really see a huge shift happening on a large scale. PS5 is going to pick up momentum eventually.
 

TheTony316

Member
This all seems very vague. I don't know why people are worrying about Japanese people flocking to PC because of God of War and Horizon Zero Dawn. Are these western games massive in Japan?
He's talking about japanese games that used to sell primarily on PS systems, not Sony first party games.
 
Come on dude the ps5 shortage is nothing compared to the graphics card shortage.

Console to PC switch has been happening for a while now as the gaming population matures which makes total sense. Kids on the other hand are gaming on tablets and phones.

if you are serious about gaming you build a PC and if not you just use your phone or tablet. i'm not sure where consoles fit in all of this. Kind of obsolete devices with no future to speak of.
They are appliances.
They fulfill a specific purpose at a very affordable price.

They'll be around for a while.

Compare that to PC components which will continue to get more and more expensive as packaging technologies and other fuckery drives up manufacturing costs as Moore's law slows down. The simple fact is the vast majority of people who play games aren't interested in spending thousands of dollars on compuy hardware and then spending time building it and setting it up and over locking or undervolting or whatever. That's not even factoring in the ballooning power consumption.
How many people want a kW system that burns electricity for several hours at a time.

Smartphones and tablets will continue to get more popular as gaming devices, but they too are getting more expensive than consoles these days so....
 

Wildebeest

Member
He's talking about japanese games that used to sell primarily on PS systems, not Sony first party games.
I guess I just don't understand the root of the "concern". PS already loses badly in Japan to Mobile and Nintendo. Who cares if a few thousand niche gamers drift to PC. It isn't the big picture.
 

jonnyp

Member
PC is a growing market;
PS brand is declining and PS5 is hard to find;
Sony censor games in a country where lewd software have a big role;
Water is wet.

PS brand is declining while PS5 is undergoing unprecedented demand. Right. I hope you are not involved in any company's marketing department or strategy meetings. Tagline checks out.
 
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