Barring any further final hour hitches, the PlayStation 4 will finally launch in China from 20th March. The console was all set to release on 11th January – the platform holder even held a press conference to confirm the date – but was pushed back for unspecified reasons. It'll be joined by the PlayStation Vita when it eventually deploys.
Previously, the Chinese government had made it illegal for manufacturers to sell games machines in the potentially lucrative region, but it lifted this ban last year, prompting a race between Microsoft and Sony to enter the territory. The former actually deployed the Xbox One in September, meaning that its Japanese sparring partner is seriously late to the party.
Still, polls show that the market is more interested in the PlayStation maker's platforms, and it's priced its devices somewhat reasonably, at 2,899RMB ($468) for the PS4 and 1,299RMB ($210) for the Vita. Furthermore, the manufacturer claims that its hardware will be well supported, with over 70 third-party developers and publishers committing to producing content for the nation.
Of course, with PC gaming already culturally ingrained in China, it remains to be seen whether consoles actually have a place.
[source scei.co.jp, via gamespot.com]
Comments 13
@Bad-MuthaAdebisi More like 1 million in 18 months! And that's a stretch!
@Bad-MuthaAdebisi @get2sammyb
The current lineup makes me ponder how you two came to that conclusion. They won't jump for Knack like Japan did.
Fingers crossed PS4 does better than X1 anyway in China!
@Punished_Boss_84 Alright then, 500k in 18 months! xD
42 million by Dec. this year lol watch
I'm expecting a seriously low number, like 1 million within 12 months .
50 million in 5 months?
5.3 million by end of 2015.
The Chinese market has potential, but piracy is rampant and stealing tech, rebranding it before flogging it for a quarter of the price makes it incredibly difficult. Japan and China hate each other as well, so I can't see it performing brilliantly - 3/4 of a million sold on to customers by this time next year tops.
@themcnoisy in China there is a lot of piracy, well yes that is true but so in another countries, China hates Japan, yet brands like Nikko, Nissan and other japanese brand are doing the job, China right now as the first economy power of the world is thirsty of foreign goods, it includes tech, they used to play on pc, but I am pretty sure a if they make a good advertising ps4 could be a boom in China.
@jayclayx absolutely, but in the computer, chip and plastic fabrication and falsification they lead the way hands down in the world. It can work, but the piracy and blag goods market is so huge both as an internal economy and export, you will see knockoffs of the ps4 from day 1. But if the authorities police it correctly the ps4 could flourish.
@get2sammyb Why such low estimates?
@themcnoisy yeah that is true, also Sony knows that even they hit a low percent of the video game market in China we are talking big numbers, now that Sony is almost broke in other departments like pc's and tv's it would be interesting on what the ps4 can achieve in that asian country and motivate Sony to go even stronger with the brand ps.
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