Japan Is Still A Key Market, According To SCE President Shuhei Yoshida
One of the more surprising announcements to come out of Sony over the last week was the fact that the PS4 would not be coming to Japan until early next year. After all, isn’t Japan one of their key markets? The company is based there, for goodness sake! So why is the PS4 being delayed there instead of some place like Europe, or Australia, or America?
According to SCE Worldwide Studio President Shuhei Yoshida, it partly comes down to the fact that they want there to be strong Japanese titles ready for the launch in Japan. It makes sense, considering how all the games being released at launch for the PS4 seem to be mostly Western-centric. The lack of Japanese titles ready, combined with the fact that the amount of pre-orders have exceeded expectations to the point that there may very well be shortages, lead Sony to the conclusion that they would be better off waiting to release the console once the initial rush has passed.
In the end, though, Yoshida made it clear that Sony still considers Japan one of their key markets. That’s why they’re releasing the Vita TV and new slim Vita there first, because that console has done better there than anywhere else. It comes down to playing to each regions strengths at first, and right now Japan is more into mobiles and the US is more into consoles. It’ll all work out in the end.
