PS5 Had Sony's Best Year in Japan for Almost 20 Years

It’s really obvious how westernised Sony’s 1st party software offering is now. They’ve lost the variety in their lineup beyond open world games where the main character is suffering from depression. By shutting down all of their software developers in Japan they’ve lost a lot of fun, creativity, colour, escapism, and downright weirdness that mixed things up.

I’m guessing Japanese gamers have bought a PS5 for the promise of 3rd party games from Capcom, Square Enix, and From Software- but even a lot of those games have been very westernised and drab as well.

Japan’s mindset had always been different to other countries. They prefer handheld gaming over consoles and people generally do their gaming in the bus and on the go. The reason the Switch, and the other handhelds before it like the DS and the 3DS dominated the gaming market back in the day. The day Nintendo stops making handhelds is the day we will see the downfall of the big N; until then, nothing will change.

@get2sammyb first party games are everything They usually make the best games.

This is good news. There's nothing quite as quirky as many jap developed titles, and record sales will attract more dev houses to develop and release for the platform. Very welcome.

Hardly surprising that software isn’t doing great.

You had an article around Xmas that showed the most played games in Japan were all the f2p stuff like genshin apex Fortnite etc etc

I feel like “Hardware strong, software not” should be on the box of the PS5.

@guardianoftime 'first party games are everything'.

Thats simply not the case, with many of the most fantastic titles being 3rd party titles, including much of the goty titles.

Elden Ring, Alan wake 2, Cyberpunk, Resi evil, Final Fantasy, Star wars jedi, Street Fighter, Lies of P, Genshin..... the list isalmost endless.
You could never consume a 1st party title and still be eating very well indeed.
The great 1st party titles are simply the icing on the cake.

I think that, besides the handheld gaming preference, the main issue are the „Western“ themes and narratives. And this makes me wonder whether this will be a successful strategy for the future of global PS gaming. We currently see a renewed division of the world in two blocks, with the „Eastern block“ an interesting market for video games. A plumber on a quest to rescue a princess is totally harmless and acceptable even for the most totalitarian regime. But a young transman breaking free of his cult in a post-apocalyptic world without working state authorities?

@K1LLEGAL They chose „8k“ instead, which is less true.

Honestly, after visiting first hand, Japan gaming scene is living and breathing Nintendo. I don't see anybody being able to compete, even with significantly better offerings (similar to how in large parts of EU PlayStation is synonymous with console gaming).
So having a good hardware year and beating direct competitor (Xbox) fares well for Sony. Realistic goals, that's all.

@Titntin you should have quoted the rest of my sentence. I also said they “usually” make the best games.

People just don't understand the console market in Japan now, the "Japanese games" weren't even selling well, games like Gravity rush 2 and the Last Guardian did absolute rubbish in Japan.

At the end of year wrap it showed the top 5 games per territory and Japan was Apex Legends, Genshin Impact and 3 other free to play games I forget.

There was a Sony sideshow In Japan last year at a conference for third party developers and it showed various stats by region and Japan was actually the region with the highest spend per account. Despite buying roughly half as many games as the average American player. The average time spent per games was more than double though.

I. E. PS players in Japan just play tons of free to play gacha games and spend tons of money and time on each one.

Would be interesting to see software revenue by region. Obviously Ninty is winning with their attach rate, but I suspect a lot more microtransactions take place on PlayStation. Does Switch have all the free to plays? I know they have Fortnite, but imagine it’s people last resort given its competitive nature.

@get2sammyb

But how can a company grow more by limiting the audience? When I think of Playstation I no longer think of family gaming, I no longer think of party gaming, it doesn’t have an Animal Crossing type game for casual gamers beyond Stardew that you can get on other consoles. We had Astrobot and Sackboy early on and then Ratchet and Clank, but since then very little to change the taste of the fighty open world formula. In all those media blitzes where Sony shows it’s past it leans into all the variety and weirdness, that is now very missing.

The PlayStation is for a certain type of player at the moment who likes single player open world story games, but they’ve given up on a bunch of other audiences who would be better served buying a Nintendo product. I hope they rectify this soon.

@ChrisDeku This explanation was really insightful for me. Thank you!

It’s amazing how Japan is almost a one console country.
Also I guess they don’t have multiple consoles that much either, like. Switch and PS5 compared to say the UK, which is a very strong multiple consoles in one house country.

@MrGawain Completely agree. Sony were always willing to push the envelope with innovation and variety in their games in the past, and they seem to have lost a lot of that now since Japan Studio etc closed. I realise a lot of these games didn't sell so well, and business is business, but that willingness to try out ideas and give things a go gave Sony a certain cachet that they just don't have any more.

@MrGawain And this product strategy is great for their core audience. But production costs are insane, with 200m+, and only heavy hitters justify them. I get why Big Jimbo wanted the GaaS model, as a reaction on this difficult financial situation. Meanwhile, Microsoft also offers games like Pentiment and Hifi Rush, and Nintendo doesn’t know what to do with all that cash they currently earn with Super Mario Bros Wonder. Less „cinematic third-person open world action adventure“ also means „lower production costs“ and „shorter production timespan“.

I'm almost certain the only reason the Switch is doing so well in Japan is because it's a an handheld device, Japan love their handhelds (including mobile) and play on the buses, trains, at school etc. Look at Nintendo's other console sales before the Switch, they are no where near the Switch's sales. So as a TV console only the PlayStation 5 is doing perfectly well in Japan, now if Sony were to create a Steam deck style portable PS5 then that would probably sell more than the home console itself, maybe something Sony should consider especially with a new Monster Hunter (that's not on Switch) on the way.

We need Japanese content so badly now only form of good content good writing etc. most developers outside of Japan are scared not be looking the same as everyone one else 🤦 squeaky wheel gets the oil and what not. Final fantasy 7 and stellar blade let's hope the translation is word for word 😂

@UltimateOtaku91 That's a good point about Switch being handheld. PSP ruled in Japan back in the day as a mobile device with Monster Hunter on it.

This is also good news for us PlayStation gamers as the further and further ahead PlayStation get ahead of Xbox in Japan basically guarantees there will be no Japanese devs skipping out Playstation consoles for Xbox.

Remember also that the top ten games for Switch are mostly games that can be enjoyed by all ages. 5 year olds up can play most of these (my daughter buying a few of them. Kids will almost always get bought physical (in Japan anyway). PlayStation games are targeted at an older demographic, who buy more digital.
Also adults in Japan don’t play console games as much as adults in the UK or US. Many Japanese households have only one TV in the house. People work longer hours. If they do play games, more likely to be mobile.
My point is that a lot of Switch physical software sales are by kids - there may be more PlayStation software sales than these statistics show but I don’t think PlayStation can ever compete with Switch.

@Mikey856 It's a crying shame there's not room for the more experimental stuff as well, but I understand the business reasons. One thing I will say though is that Sony seems pretty supportive of indie developers, a lot of whom are willing to take risks on unique ideas, which mitigates things a bit on Sony's part.

Sounds like Sony would need to make a popular Gacha game for Japan but these hardware sales are promising. @Max_the_German not sure if Hi-fi Rush would have been greenlit if it wasn't already in development when they bought Zenimax, they didn't seem to have any confidence in it and just shadow dropped so it just seems like a by-product of their spending spree. Pentiment on the other hand I'm not so sure, I was never interested in the game so I never payed it any attention.

Being as physically is becoming more and more irrelevant if not mostly irrelevant by now

Mostly

It's a shame we can't get figure for digital sales as it's a much better indication on what's going on and how games are doing ect ect

I miss the Japan game industry of the 80:s-00:s, when they really where on the top.
Especially JRPG:s were so much better back in the PS1/PS2 era.
There where so many new and interesting ideas back then. Hate how modern gaming is stuck in cinematic, open worlds and service games...

Yes I know indies exists, but it feels like they are also mostly recycling old ideas.

@TimeDelayedGamer What? The PSP didn't rule Japan. It sold around 20 million units compared to Nintendo DS selling around 33 million.

@CharlieChooChoo And people who like to make sneering, referential comments about the quality of other people's opinions.

@__jamiie Fair enough, I meant that it ruled in Japan compared to it's performance in other territories, but you're right, the DS outperformed it even in Japan.

@Steel76
It’s hard to create new things now after decades of games and people rarely even buy them anyway.

Japan is very much mobile gaming. Whether it’s Switch or phone. Portal may boost Sony a bit if it catches on.

Also, may be the only gamer I know who doesn’t care about which studio/company/publisher makes a game. Don’t care that Sony has started pushing formats that I don’t like. I still have what I like so let them expand.

People seem to always get caught up in the “1st party/3rd party” argument. Seems like a business part of the industry that we, the gamers, are too concerned with.

@guardianoftime fair enough mate.
Ive been a little frustrated by the oft touted narritive that without a big first party release the consoles are useless. Having seen all the generations of games machines, its always been the support of companies like namco and square that have been equally important and Im a firm believer thats true today as well.

I chose the response to your post to express that frustration, but it wasnt specifically targetted at you, so I hope I didnt offend.

@Titntin not at all and you’re absolutely right. Besides, my theory applies mostly to Nintendo since first party games are the reason for its survival imo. PS5 on the other hand is a different story, it has great first party games, not much, but great, and also third party games that are so well done like now how I was enjoying Hogwarts Legacy and even GTA V after 10 years of its release!
Cheers mate and good gaming.

So they're buying the console but not the games? Odd.

"Hardware strong, software not" let it go man lol. If they want to buy the ps5 and use it to watch vtubers that's great. MS would take that deal any day.

I always found it curious when PS5 hardware sales get a bump, but then there isn't a single game in the "Top 10". 🤷‍♂️

@GamingFan4Lyf As others have said, not so curious, when the average gamer spends so much of his time playing free to play games.

@gymratAmarillo nah, that would be a tiny profit. It's all about those microtransactions from ftp games.

@naruball But then why bother spending the money on the console if you can still play it on PS4? Future proofing, I guess?

@GamingFan4Lyf because all your friends are talking about and have a ps5. People buy consoles because of hype, not reason. It's the whole FOMO.

If the upcoming Like a Dragon, Granblue Fantasy Relink, Persona 3 Reload and Final Fantasy 7 Rebith don't top the chart list in Japan on PS5, I don't know what can.
Playstation 1st party games were never very good sellers, there is no point in people going for that angle. It's not that Playstation is weak in Japan, its real problem is how dominant the Switch is, and they can't do anything about that.

Come on, Sony. Expand PlayStation Studios with a TON more Asian support and get to work!

@naruball still better than no profit lol. It's like the psp , a HUGE chunk of people who had one didn't play games, it was one of the best accessible mp3 players of the moment so it is what it is. But you actually see the real money comes from services so that's cool (and that's why they invested in Hoyo before it was cool).

@TheCollector316 and they are actually. Square Enix, the VR ver. of RE with Capcom, KT, Hoyo, Shift up and the korean mmorp company. Some people think because they aren't focused in japan they don't care about asia but they are putting more money there than ever.

@gymratAmarillo
You are right about that, but none of those are part of PlayStation Studios. Hopefully, the second party relationships bear fruit and eventually PlayStation Studios expands further into Asia.

I heard that ps5 is the cheapest in japan compared to other region so scalper buy it to sells it on other region, maybe that explain the strong hardware but soft software things.

Subscriptions also don't help with software sales..having extra for a year and I didn't purchase a single game.

3.5 years in and a handful of stellar games. Imagine if someone brought an OLED 75 inch tv, and the picture only covered 25 percent of the intended screen size, then over the next three years, you get another 60 percent, and you just are now beginning to see the potential of the tv and the picture! WOW..

@zebric21 many people in those first two years, brought a PS5 for the flex. You dont know how many people were taking pictures of their PS5s and going "GUYS I GOT ONE!!" imagine a gamer back in the days buying a Super NES and taking a picture of it, and posting it on the internet and saying " LOOK GUYS I GOT ME A SUPER NES!!" straight nerdom..... LOLS

Most of the quality studios were always JAPANESE, this is where gaming was born basically as in console, and the arcades. They had a thriving gaming culture, and several gaming magazines. CAPCOM still is dropping good games, their japanese leg of the company has always been a strong one..

Cant believe a JAPANESE gaming company isnt dominating like it should ( and we arent talking about Nintendo)

@MakersMark that's... not a very good analogy at all, though.

Sony should make games like Pokemon, Splatoon, Super Smash Bros. since those games are quite popular in Japan.

@UltimateOtaku91

Almost all Japanese games sell better for Nintendo platforms than for PlayStation

@zebric21

Nintendo has a better offer than both Sony and Xbox because it offers Nintendo Switch Game Vouchers with which you can get two Nintendo games. In order to be able to buy Nintendo Switch Game Vouchers, you need to have an NSO

https://store-jp.nintendo.com/list/software/70020000000021.html

@PCGamer Most of the biggest and newest Japanese games don't even come to Nintendo. Persona 3 Reloaded, Dragons Dogma 2, FF7 ReBirth, Granblue Fantasy Relink, Like a Dragon Infinite Wealth, Silent Hill, Resident Evil, Elden Ring etc are not on or coming to Nintendo consoles.

@UltimateOtaku91

If these games fail in sales, then the Japanese developers will be blamed for not making these games for the Nintendo platform.

@AhmadSumadi

This is the reason why Sony needs to invest more in mobile gaming

@UltimateOtaku91

Sony does not need to make its own handheld console, but can team up with, for example, Asus, Lenovo...

@UltimateOtaku91 they probably will though, a few years down the line on the Switch’s successor.

@Friendly Depends on the Switch 2 specs, even the steamdeck struggles to run some of the newest games properly. But I definitely think Persona 3 Reloaded, Granblue Fantasy Relink and possibly Elden Ring may come to the Switch 2. Also if Nintendo put the latest Wifi tech in their next console them maybe these games can get cloud versions that actually run well.

It's moments like this that it makes sense but is sad. In a way good on the Japan Studios (the many studios under that umbrella) staff that have their own space and studios to make games on any platform they want.

They can have Japanese publishers sure but exclusive or not, audience/theme/visual appeal or not makes a difference. IP, variety. Which publishers, which IPs.

Subscriptions exist so whether the Japanese or other Asian regions are buying into them that's something for sure. Or just 'being on the go' which who wants to a take a Portal outside. The connection for one and just putting a smaller handheld in your bag. How many used Vita remote play I don't know but a sizeable audience I assume. Versus just playing games digital/physical on the go no connection to worry about or always having to be connected to something when they'd rather do that for social apps, work or other things instead not just gaming.

Bokeh and Claphands I know of not all of them and what other studios many staff went to, retired or formed other studios we just don't hear about compared to more talked about staff leads.

But also Asobi and Polyphony isn't enough and Astro is so infrequent that studio barely offers enough frequency of their amazing creative games to outshine the rest showing the bigger picture of the company.

Media Molecule does bring magic but Dreams took a long time and is over so who knows what they have in store. Who knows with Bend or Bluepoint even.

This is why I don't want a PS5. There is nothing here for me. Only third parties if that.

Nothing wrong with a western focus in sales, but in audiences to bring it if wanting to reach out yeah they are just clueless for Asian regions support other than third parties and that's it. Square and some big gacha games aren't enough to intrigue people.

Localisation of the games isn't much if it's so few sales from them but are available at least.

Western devs/publishers can make trending games, and this and that deeper, dark, whatever themes but if the gameplay is boring, the charm isn't there on the same level of appeal.

The worlds look fine I guess and otherwise I'm still going to Indies, AA and mostly AA Japanese games then western ones if the western ones follow the AAA western devs too much which many have and I've moved on.

To me trends are fine but I mean if cult following gamers or review companies push trends then well what about the average person they are where the sale come from not whoever on Twitter that these companies seem to forget are a minority of sales and are just vocal audiences not sales or average person feedback, whatever money companies want and trophies/other percentage metrics of players playing the games to certain points, not selling the game as digital or just physical/keeping the console like Wiis sitting there in TV stands for years/packed away.

I can take Switch being underpowered, still while not my favourite hardware gimmicks is still there then a typical console and fair controller use cases and fair VR with western publishers ignoring it for the Quest because bigger userbase, Facebook data and other nonsense, it's smartphones all over again and ditching the 3DS/Vita again. Sure it's no freedom of handheld PCs for storefronts, whatever you want to use them for of old, new PC gaming let alone 'cough console research' but the price, availability especially of these handheld PCs in certain regions not as widespread as consoles and physical games. Yeah I'm going Switch. But PC and Japanese games are still a fair space to go.