Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Jim Ryan has acknowledged a report suggesting that Sony has essentially focused its PlayStation 5 efforts on a Western demographic, essentially sidelining Japan and Japanese PlayStation developers.
Ryan rebuffed the reports claims in an interview with Edge magazine, labeling the suggestion as "inaccurate." He stressed how the "Japanese market remains incredibly important to us," adding how Sony is more excited now about engaging the Japanese game development community than it has been for many years.
Pointing to the PlayStation 5's "Future of Play" events ahead of the hard-to-find console's launch in November, Ryan highlighted how across both shows, "a reasonable amount of games, but not a huge number of games" were developed by Japanese companies. He noted how eight Japanese-developed titles were present, many of which are the result of the "collaboration and partnership" that currently exists between PlayStation and the Japanese video game publishing community.
He attempted to bolster his reasoning by underlining how the PlayStation 5 launched in Japan on the same day as it did in the United States. This matching launch date—which was not the same worldwide, including in many Western markets like Europe and the United Kingdom—differs from the initial PlayStation 4 launch back in 2013. Whereas North America got the PlayStation 4 on Nov. 15, 2013, with the PAL version becoming available soon after on Nov. 29, Japan wouldn't receive the console until Feb. 22, 2014.
Ryan shared how he "read that stuff," but stressed how "A lot of that commentary is inaccurate, and Japan – as our second largest market and as Sony's homeland – continues to be really important to us."
Sony's PlayStation 5 currently remains elusive across pretty much all markets as Christmas approaches. Pre-order systems worldwide have seemingly let gamers down, time and time again, since the console launched, with retailers advertising new stock that immediately sells out.
Additionally, opportunistic scalpers have been flipping consoles at increased markup rates to desperate gamers who either want to play the latest titles on Sony's next-generation console—such as Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Bugsnax, or Astro's Playroom—or conversely want to wrap the console up as a gift for a friend or loved one.
Sony recently celebrated the success of its PlayStation 5 console launch, noting that it has been its biggest console launch ever. The company noted how the demand for the PlayStation 5 has been "unprecedented" before sharing good news for eager gamers by informing them that more PlayStation 5 stock would be available in retailers before the end of the year.
Source: IGN (via Edge Magazine #353)