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Sony admits PS4 is a tougher sell in Japan

B

Bundy

Banned
Why PS4 is struggling in Japan

The PlayStation 4 is struggling in Japan. But why?

The PS4 launched in Japan in February 2014 (four months after the UK and US) and has now sold 620,000 units there. In Japan, over the last couple of weeks, the Wii U outsold the PS4. Last week the PS4 outsold its predecessor the PlayStation 3 by only 500 units.

"It's doing okay," was Sony Computer Entertainment boss Andrew House's assessment of the PS4's performance in Japan so far when quizzed on the subject by Eurogamer at the Develop conference in Brighton.

This is in stark contrast to the performance of the console in the west. In the UK the PS4 is the fastest-selling console ever. Globally, the PS4 has shifted seven million units, and is selling at a faster rate than the phenomenally successful PlayStation 2 over the same time period.

So, what's going wrong in Japan? House highlighted the lack of PS4 games designed by Japanese companies - rather than the fact it launched in Japan after it did in the west.

"We're conscious of the fact we have not had yet the sort of groundswell of Japan native content from Japanese publishers and developers," House said. "I view that as temporary.

"There's definite developer and publisher enthusiasm for the platform, especially having seen the overarching success it's had in markets outside of Japan, and again this outpacing of the PlayStation 2. We'll see that come into games people in Japan will get excited about, but unfortunately a little bit later than has happened in other markets."

Last week the best-selling PS4 game in Japan was Ubisoft's open world hacking game Watch Dogs, which sold over 65,000 copies. But PS3 games continue to do well there. Bandai Namco's Kamen Rider: Battride War 2 sold just shy of 60,000 units. And the PS3 version of Watch Dogs sold just under 40,000.

So why did Japanese publishers and developers fail to get behind the PS4?

"For whatever reasons, when we were evangelising around the platform, we were having a tougher sell with Japanese publishers and developers," House admitted.

"There was a comfort level around PS3 that was playing into that. There was a slight level of concern around the viability of the console market in Japan. But we've really turned a corner on that and demonstrated that if you're a publisher that wants to reach a global market with good and immersive games then the PS4 is definitely the place to be."

At the Tokyo Game Show in September 2013, senior Sony executives told Eurogamer that they decided to launch PS4 in February because that was when Sony expected more games to be ready for its home market.

"Sony just wants to make sure that when PS4 launches in Japan there is a good line-up of titles for Japan," the console's lead architect and Knack creative director Mark Cerny said.

"Perhaps you could say that a few western developers have been more aggressive in readying titles for the hardware."
Click to expand...

More here
 
Oppo

Oppo

Member
yeah, perhaps ;)

Japan is still swinging hard towards mobile, but I wonder if VR will bring that audience back, when it starts to really ramp up. The Japanese do love their novelties.
 
tensuke

tensuke

Member
PS Quattro ain't got the games
for Japan
RlbOu73.png
 
M

Mpl90

Two copies sold? That's not a bomb guys, stop trolling!!!
"It's doing okay," was Sony Computer Entertainment boss Andrew House's assessment of the PS4's performance in Japan so far when quizzed on the subject by Eurogamer at the Develop conference in Brighton.

Understatement of the year.
 
LiquidMetal14

LiquidMetal14

hide your water-based mammals
Games it needs. Japan has to start supporting it but if they want to give all the stuff to hand helds and mobile then none of the consoles will take off in Japan and they will begin to lose even more revenues from the west. Shame really.
 
K

KtSlime

Member
Nerfgun said:
yeah, perhaps ;)

Japan is still swinging hard towards mobile, but I wonder if VR will bring that audience back, when it starts to really ramp up. The Japanese do love their novelties.
Click to expand...
VR in game centers maybe. Issue is, no one is ever home to play home consoles. People generally play during travel, lunch, and after work before they go back home.
 
K

kinoki

Illness is the doctor to whom we pay most heed; to kindness, to knowledge, we make promise only; pain we obey.
I haven't seen any console selling games mentioned. If the games come the market is there. Sure, some might have gone mobile but it's not like it's something that's alien to them. All they need is the right games and marketing.
 
G

gogogow

Member
Well no shit. I'm baffled Sony rather release and make something like Knack than Minna no Golf. What is the whole of SCEJ doing? It's not like they are releasing a shitton of Vita games either.
 
F

Father_Brain

Banned
"There was a comfort level around PS3 that was playing into that. There was a slight level of concern around the viability of the console market in Japan. But we've really turned a corner on that and demonstrated that if you're a publisher that wants to reach a global market with good and immersive games then the PS4 is definitely the place to be."
Click to expand...

So there "was" (past tense) concern about the viability of the console market in Japan, but they've "turned a corner" on that... by proving that PS4 is a viable platform if you want to sell games outside Japan?
 
Zoe

Zoe

Member
I realize they're probably waiting for a larger install base, but they really screwed up by not tying the PS4 into their Playstation/Dokodemo anniversary celebrations.
 
N

Nightengale

Member
gogogow said:
Well no shit. I'm baffled Sony rather release and make something like Knack than Minna no Golf. What is the whole of SCEJ doing? It's not like they are releasing a shitton of Vita games either.
Click to expand...

2013:
- Soul Sac
- Puppeteer
- Rain
- Knack

2014:
- Freedom Wars
- Soul Sac Delta
- Oreshika 2
- Destiny of Spirits

Another problem was that it was well-known that SCEJ's internal development was a complete 'free-for-all' without proper supervision up till 2012, when Allan Becker only started coming in.
 
S

Shinriji

Member
Meanwhile, Vita is selling more than combined PS3+PS4 for several weeks and Japan Studios have it's first hit since forever with Freedom Wars.
 
E

Elios83

Member
Of course it's a matter of games, they need big releases from japanese publishers.
Considering the general state of japanese development it's taking a lot of time.
Yoshida and Kawano promised more announcements at TGS, we'll see what they can bring to the table.
 
yurinka

yurinka

Member
Final Fantasy XV, Metal Gear V, Kingdom Hearts III, Gran Turismo, etc still have to be released. Games like them will push sales in Japan.
gogogow said:
Well no shit. I'm baffled Sony rather release and make something like Knack than Minna no Golf. What is the whole of SCEJ doing? It's not like they are releasing a shitton of Vita games either.
Click to expand...

Nightengale said:
2013:
- Soul Sac
- Puppeteer
- Rain
- Knack

2014:
- Freedom Wars
- Soul Sac Delta
- Oreshika 2
- Destiny of Spirits
Click to expand...
In addition to this, as we know they are working on The Last Guardian, Bloodborne and Gravity Rush 2.
 
F

Freedom = $1.05

Banned
It's hard to sell a machine to people who aren't interested in the games coming out for it.

It also doesn't help that consoles have been on the decline for about a decade as portables took over, which are now also in a decline because mobile took over.

In short, just put puzzles and dragons on the ps4 and make a phsfourne, the first fully featured console/mobile phone.
 
RAIDEN1

RAIDEN1

Member
Bit like the early days of the Dreamcast! Did well overseas, yet natively it couldn't crack the market! (Not saying the PS4 is heading in a similar direction generally that's obvious..)
 
F

Father_Brain

Banned
Nightengale said:
2013:
- Soul Sac
- Puppeteer
- Rain
- Knack

2014:
- Freedom Wars
- Soul Sac Delta
- Oreshika 2
- Destiny of Spirits
Click to expand...

Puppeteer and Knack are the only games you list that were developed internally at Japan Studio. The rest were actually developed by third-party studios.

Which isn't to say that the other six games don't "count," just that their output is less impressive in quantity than it might appear.
 
G

gogogow

Member
Nightengale said:
2013:
- Soul Sac
- Puppeteer
- Rain
- Knack

2014:
- Freedom Wars
- Soul Sac Delta
- Oreshika 2
- Destiny of Spirits
Click to expand...

Developed by Alfa System and a bunch of collaborations.

And of course, SCEJ/Team Ico is STILL making The Last Guardian after an entire extra long console cycle...
 
T

Trago

Member
Metal Gear Solid V, Final Fantasy XV, and Kingdom Hearts III will turn things around for the PS4 in Japan.
 
G

GunBR

Member
C'mon guys, the "PS4 has no games for Japan" is just a lame excuse
The console market is dying in Japan, that's the truth
We will see a big bump in the Ps4 sales after the launch of FF XV (in 2017), but one month later he will probably be selling 5 times less than a "4DS" or even the Vita
 
yurinka

yurinka

Member
DaSorcerer7 said:
When are those titles arriving again??
Click to expand...
It's very likely to see them in 2015/2016.

GunBR said:
C'mon guys, the "PS4 has no games for Japan" is just a lame excuse
The console market is dying in Japan, that's the truth
We will see a big bump in the Ps4 sales after the launch of FF XV (in 2017), but one month later he will probably be selling 5 times less than a "4DS" or even the Vita
Click to expand...
Wrong. It's just a transition between generations. As did happen for the west, once the best selling IPs of each market debut PS4 will shine in Japan too. For last gen consoles is normal to see decline this or last year because they are old and their life cycle is ending, as seen every generation. Final Fantasy is just one of these best selling IPs.
 
A

Aquamarine

Member
"It's doing okay," was Sony Computer Entertainment boss Andrew House's assessment of the PS4's performance in Japan so far when quizzed on the subject by Eurogamer at the Develop conference in Brighton.
Click to expand...

"It's doing okay"? It's failing quite miserably at the moment. I don't think anybody at Sony is happy or satisfied with its performance there.
 
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