James GordanThe analyst accuses Sony of neglecting the Japanese market: The PS5 has the worst PlayStation launch in the country and the Sony studio is screwed.
The PlayStation 5 was launched worldwide last November and was a huge success. According to several sources (DigiTimes and VGChartz) the PS5 sold about 3.4 million more copies than any other PlayStation console in the first month. And this despite the fact that the PS5 is already completely sold out and is not available in almost every shop.
However, a very small part of these sales came from Japan. In fact, fewer PlayStation consoles were sold on the domestic market when the console was launched. These are data compiled by GamesIndustry.biz from Famitsu’s weekly sales information, which shows that only 240,000 PS5s were sold in Japan in the first six weeks. This figure, which is about half of what the PS4 sold in the same period, is the lowest in PlayStation history (excluding PSP).
These data clarify the purpose of this GamesIndustry.biz article, signed by analyst Hideki Yasuda of the Ace Economic Research Institute: that Sony has left the Japanese market.
In the article, the analyst is very critical of the direction taken by Sony with the PlayStation 5 :. Given the current situation in which Sony (YOU) has failed to distribute enough PS5s in Japan at the end of the purchasing season, we have no choice but to worry about the future of the PlayStation market in Japan. “
Yasuda mentions other reasons, like. B. the change of standard operation with the X and O buttons on the western model, or the absence of Japanese storytelling in the PS5 presentation videos with the idea that Japan is in the background. in the advertising campaign for the PlayStation 5, which is the main American market. This is where the PS5 had its best launch in the history of the brand.
Moreover, according to the article, Sony’s Japanese studio is downsizing. Many staff do not extend their contracts and some teams only cover one third of the maximum number of staff. Last month Teruyuki Toriyama (producer of Demon’s Souls) left the studio, shortly after Keiichiro Toyama (maker of Silent Hill), Kazunobu Sato and Junya Okura.
The trend began with the restructuring of Sony Interactive Entertainment in 2016 and the establishment of its global headquarters in San Mateo, California.
A month ago, Jim Ryan, CEO of the EIS, spoke out on the issue and denied that they neglect Japan: Sony’s position is that the Japanese market is still incredibly important to us. It’s been years since we’ve been so excited. ” He noted that unlike the PS4, which was released three months late in Japan, the PS5 has a global release. ” Japan, the second largest market and the heart of Sony, remains a very important market for us.
In his article, however, Yasuda reacted directly to these statements by Ryan (who in turn responded to an earlier article by Yasuda). And he did it in a big way: The aim of our article was not to denigrate the head of the tabloid, but to inform Sony and the EIS headquarters about the deep sense of despair among Japanese PlayStation users.
We think it’s very likely that Sony really takes Japan seriously. But if his intentions are good, his actions are not. As a result, users feel that Sony and its CEO Jim Ryan are neglecting the Japanese market.
Japanese users are not allowed to express their dissatisfaction on social media, so the American headquarters of the EIS may feel that the Japanese politely accept what they get. But it couldn’t be further from reality: They were just starting to fade quietly. “
Famitsu’s weekly sales figures for Japan show that the country’s video game market is currently monopolised by the Nintendo Switch. In the week of 14 to 20 years. For example, 263,000 switches were sold in December, compared to 17,500 for PS5 and 10,300 for PS4.
Some 9.2 million PS4s have been sold in Japan since its launch in 2013. On the other hand, 17 million Nintendo Switches have already been sold in a much shorter period of time since 2017. ” If this trend continues, total SP5 sales in Japan could account for less than half of SP4 sales, according to Yasuda.
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James Gordan
