[ad_1]
PlayStation employees and developers have reportedly lost confidence in Japan as a market, as Microsoft seeks to seize it with acquisitions.
The Bloomberg report explains how Microsoft is trying to attract more consumers to Japan, as dissensions and doubts grow with Japanese Sony employees.
Bloomberg quotes Sony employees who wished not to be named, saying the company started to focus more on the United States after the PlayStation 4 was disappointing in Japan.
Citing Famitsu, Bloomberg reports that the PlayStation 4 has sold less than 10 million units in Japan. This despite the console’s worldwide sales reaching over 113 million (citing Sony). Finally, Macquarie Group Ltd. analyst Damian Thong said 35% of Sony’s video game revenue comes from the United States, compared to 10% from Japan.
Bloomberg had previously reported numerous claims from anonymous sources familiar with the matter or were employees; stating that Sony was struggling to find parts for the PlayStation 5 and meeting fluctuating production targets [1, 2, 3, 4]. Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) will later deny these allegations.
Likewise, Sony spokeswoman Natsumi Atarashi denied the new allegations. She reportedly said (in Bloomberg’s words) “Any suggestion that Sony is diverting its attention from Japan is incorrect and does not reflect company strategy.”
Atarashi noted that the PlayStation 5 was not only launched first in Japan, but that Sony “The internal market remains of the utmost importance.” It should be noted that Japanese fans weren’t happy with Sony’s decision to switch the X and O controls to the Western standard, and two major live broadcasts of PlayStation 5 at 5 a.m. JST.
More doubt about Sony’s target can be seen at the end of December 2018. SIE Japan Asia President Atsushi Morita said the recent wave of censorship of anime-style sexual content on PlayStation 4 games has been “to meet global standards. ” This censorship has apparently forced the Japanese developers.
A “Senior official at PlayStation headquarters in San Mateo, California” (who did not wish to be named), told Bloomberg his frustrations over the Japanese marketing team’s failure to sell more PlayStation 4 units.
According to several employees of PlayStation Japan, this led to the Japanese office (in the words of Bloomberg) “Shelved” when it came to planning to promote the PlayStation 5. Tokyo employees told Bloomberg they were awaiting instructions.
Former employees also told Bloomberg that Japanese developer support teams have been reduced by a third “from their peak,” with rolling contracts not being renewed at Japan Studio.
Employees at the California headquarters told Bloomberg that the US office believed (in Bloomberg’s words) “The PlayStation industry doesn’t need games that only perform well in Japan.”
Morningstar Research analyst Kazunori Ito told Bloomberg “The consensus of analysts is that PlayStation no longer sees the Japanese market as important. If you want to know their take on the Japanese market, you need to find out about it, otherwise Sony wouldn’t talk about it. “
Tokyo gaming consultant Serkan Toto had equally damning predictions for the future of PlayStation in Japan.
“Many PlayStation 4 owners in Japan would eventually switch to PlayStation 5, but that would largely depend on the strength of the PlayStation team in Tokyo in pushing the needs of Japanese customers to the US headquarters. Given the current balance of power between the United States and Japan, unfortunately I can’t expect much. “
Local retailers also told Bloomberg that they had not received more first-batch PlayStation 5 units compared to the PlayStation 3. This was despite the initially limited production of the PlayStation 3. As mentioned above however, the EIS may have had manufacturing issues caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Despite this, SIE aims to sell over 7 million PlayStation 5 units this year; superior to PlayStation 4 in its launch year. This was developed by Sony CFO Hiroki Totoki, stating that the target was over 7.6 million units in five months; and ultimately sell equal to the lifetime sales of the PlayStation 4 (113.5 million units at present).
Comparatively, Xbox director Phil Spencer told Tokyo Game Show 2020 that Japan is their “Fastest growing installation base.Despite this, Bloomberg notes that the Xbox brand has (in their own words) “Virtually no presence in the country;” Xbox One sales this year through November representing 0/1% of console sales (10.1% for PlayStation 4 and 89.9% for Nintendo Switch; citing Famitsu).
Analyst Hideki Yasuda of the Ace Research Institute in Tokyo told Bloomberg that Microsoft has a chance to hit big and Sony could lose in its own home turf. “The Xbox has a chance of making Japan its second market after the United States if it takes the right steps for years to come. Sony’s attention is fading and fans have started to notice it. ”
Yasuda further speculated that Microsoft will focus on the Xbox Series S in the region, as previous consoles have been criticized for being too large for Japanese living rooms.
In addition; While Sony reportedly gave Japanese developers a cold shoulder, Sarah Bond of Japanese Xbox Relations says the company has contacted Japanese developers. One of them includes Koei Tecmo Games, with President Hisashi Koinuma set to release more games on Xbox consoles if the company shows continued interest in Japan.
Microsoft is also said to be interested in acquiring more Japanese companies. Although none of them are “big names,” anonymous individuals told Bloomberg “Several Japanese-based game developers, from small to large, have said they approached them to buy their business.”
Despite this, the Serkan Toto game had little praise for either company; rather thinking that Nintendo will rule the roost. However, Microsoft may have taken the right first step.
“Many PlayStation 4 owners in Japan would eventually switch to PlayStation 5, but that would largely depend on the strength of the PlayStation team in Tokyo in pushing the needs of Japanese customers to the US headquarters. Given the current balance of power between the United States and Japan, unfortunately I can’t expect much. “
[…] “Microsoft will continue to struggle in Japan, and I see no reason why the next Xbox should do better in Japan than previous models. All signs point to Nintendo being king in Japan for years to come, and I really don’t understand why Microsoft is still so obsessed with Japan.
“Microsoft won’t be able to take Sony’s No. 2 position in Japan anytime soon, but at least it’s started to make changes. A big tide always begins with a small change. “
Picture: Xbox, PlayStation
[ad_2]
Source link