After selling more than ten million units in other parts of the world, Sony is finally ready to bring its PlayStation 4 console to China.
The company has dated and priced both the PS4 and the handheld PlayStation Vita system for China, according to GamesIndustry International. Both systems will be released on January 11th, with both black and white colors available, along with a limited edition “dragon” model for each.
The PS4 will be priced around RMB 2,899 (or U.S. equivalent of $468), while the PS Vita will go for RMB 1,299 (or $209).
“PS4 is expanding at the fastest rate in PlayStation hardware history, and the global gaming community is enjoying the ultimate hardware entertainment experience only available on PlayStation,” said Andrew House. “We are delighted that we are able to fully launch our business in China, which is a market with great potential. We look forward to delivering exciting software, convenient services and entertainment experiences only possible on PlayStation to the many gamers in China.”
“Furthermore,” says a Sony press release, “in cooperation with Modian.com and business partner Shanghai Oriental Pearl SUOLE Culture Development Ltd., SCE will actively provide support to Chinese game developers to bring their content to PlayStation platforms.” Territory-specific developers like Suzhou Snail Digital Technology, Shanghai Youju Information Technology and Shanghai Kena Information Technology are all on board.
However, according to Reuters, Sony still faces an uphill struggle when it comes to software releases for both systems, as it still has to work with China’s censors to assure that the content in games is suitable for players. More “rough” content games like Grand Theft Auto V, for example, aren’t likely to see a release. “The Chinese censor will be Sony’s biggest challenge,” believes Roger Sheng, research director at Gartner.
That said, the company is more than willing to work with the government on the matter. “Cooperating with the government, we’ll provide a broad range of content for our users in China,” said Hiroyuki Oda, head of Asia business for Sony Computer Entertainment.
While it’s too soon to tell if the system will see a huge boost in sales overseas, there’s no question Sony has plenty of momentum going into 2015, especially with the conclusion of its successful PlayStation Experience event. Only time will tell at this rate…