For Sony to compete in Japan again the way it did in the PS1 and PS2 era, it’s going to need to do some major things.this is going to be long but it’s based on my observations and conversations with people here in my nearly two decades living in Japan.
1. First, get supply into the country. This is so important and needs to be stressed. The low sales of the PS5 at launch is only due to this huge issue. There is no supply, but there is more than plenty of demand here. But the longer Sony keeps systems away from Japan while sending a majority of systems to the west is just going to continue to make people here frustrated. And when gamers are frustrated here they will just pick up a switch.
2. Change the marketing. Sony used to have some of the best commercials in Japan for gaming. They were funny and interesting and got people talking. Today the commercials are simple, not interesting, and honestly boring. And it doesn’t do a good enough job to showcase why playstation is worth it. Some style but no flash. And it’s geared to a specific audience, older gamers and hardcore Otaku gamers. Which can be probmatic Which leads me to my next part,
3. Sony has to expand its gaming focus and library past what it does now to include games for everyone. In the near two decades I’ve lived in Japan I’ve seen kids go from loving the PlayStation brand to literally not even recognizing the logo. The brand today is so focused on a certain group of gamers that most people are left out. playstation used to be the all you need and all you want system in Japan with games that focused on all groups. It’s time to do that again. Nintendo has games for every group, every part of society In Japan from Mario and Momotaro Dentsu, to hardcore Otaku games. It satisfies the entire spectrum of gamer in Japan. And while having one of the most powerful systems on the market might be something Sony likes to mention, it’s not that big of a deal here. The game could look like shit but play amazing and gamers will dig it. Gameplay has and always will be more important here than whatever resolution and teraflops the system can do.
4. don’t allow your major hits to go to the competition. The biggest blow to Sony in the last two generations, was losing its biggest third party game to Nintendo, monster Hunter. That loss resurrected the 3ds and killed the vita overnight. And not just that it hurt the PlayStation brand in general. We have seen how big monster Hunter did when it came back to playstation, so Sony needs to hold onto those games tightly if it wants to keep gamers. Make PlayStation a place that you know is going to be the only place you can play these games. Sure people don’t like exclusivity but if Sony wants to compete it will need to step up and do it.
5. more variety in Games. You got great experiences that Japanese gamers like. Great, keep up at that. Ghost of tsushima was a huge win for japan. Push them even more. And go for other big titles and franchises. They have a Demon Slayer (Kimetsu no Yaiba) game coming this year. Advertise the hell out of it. Make sure every kid in the country knows it. That franchise is so huge now and can help Sony even if the game sucks. And again spread out the variety. Sure you got the hardcore market, but that market keeps getting smaller each year as people get older. This isnt the west where keep playing games into adulthood. Most dont.
6. I don’t think they need to push for a portable here as people always state. Yes gamers here in Japan love portables for their convenience, which is an important aspect to the market. But even with that look at Nintendo’s sales. The regular switch dominates over the lite. Why? It has games people want to play, and games people want to play on the tv. Yes believe it or not Japanese gamers like the tv option. It’s a plus not a minus.
7. The censorship issue needs to be addressed. While Sony needs to focus on regaining the majority of the market it’s also losing hardcore fans due to the censorship of games. Some of this is due to CERO’s draconian rules and meaningless z rating but a lot of it is due to Sony themselves and it’s making game developers mad and shifting games that would’ve been small but nice hits for the system to Nintendo, which is more willing to take in those games. And this is a big issue for everyone here. Look at how Nintendo pissed off gamers here during the marketing of Tokyo mirage sessions #fe where they lied to gamers and then admited the game had the western censorship. They ended up having to give refunds to preorders online for the first time ever for that and that censorship mistake made a huge dent in the release and sales of the game here.
And last the most important thing, this is going to be a long term battle for Sony. They can’t at this moment change the momentum on a dime. They have made too many mistakes here since the PS3 while Nintendo makes almost none. The sales of the switch and it’s games are due to that and due to Nintendo rightfully reading the market and making the games and the deals needed to win over everyone. And having systems that are unique and convenient and cool for all here helps the most. But ps5 and whatever Sony has in the future can be shown to be just as cool and convenient to gamers and just as worthful of a system. Focus on their strengths, superior online over nintendo which is good for things like fortnite which is big here. Focus on cool things like the duelsense features which Nintendo doesn’t have. Bring in important franchises and advertise them like they used to it’s the good days. Use those great studios you have to not only make these amazing experiences older gamers enjoy but also make and push games everyone can enjoy. Make sure people know Astrobot exists. Keep pushing vr as it’s been a plus here. And many more things.
do I think Sony can do it, I’m not sure. They have dug a hole here that’s quite big to get out of. And having the us branch decide everything now hurts it in Japan. But if they start making changes now they can make a difference. There are plenty of franchises here that thrive on PlayStation but don’t on switch. The goal for Sony is to find a way to make it so that more games and franchises do. They have a long road ahead that’s for sure. But I have to stress again, the longer they keep the ps5 out of the hands of Japanese gamers by limiting stock here, the less of a chance they can make any comeback against the switch.
