Sony recently announced at a press event that the PS4 would release during February of 2014 in Japan, 3 months after the Western market release in November 2013. The represents a big shift from every other Sony console release, all of which have launched either before or simultaneously to Western markets.
Yet the strategy is symptomatic of a broader trend in the Japanese gaming market that has been developing over the last decade. While we tend to associate Japan with a strong gaming market and Sony’s consoles have traditionally done well at home, the world’s largest consumers of console video games are far and away Western audiences, particularly in the US.
For a land that is home to some of the world’s biggest tech giants and innovators, Japanese gamers have, for some time, been slow to adopt the latest gaming hardware. When the HD generation arrived, the 'new' high-def PS3 was outsold steadily by the much older PS2 for nearly two years while the Xbox 360 failed completely to capture consumer attention. The same was the case with the launch of the PSVita in 2011, which has been playing second fiddle in sales to the PSP in face of attempts to reverse the PSVita's fortunes.
In recent years, the main battles for video game supremacy have been fought between US and European game studios, while big releases from Japanese studios have been relatively few. The makeup of Sony’s wholly owned studios is telling. Of its major holdings, six are based in North America with a further five in Europe. This compares to just two major studio holdings in Japan, SCE Japan and Polyphony Digital.
In 2010, legendary Japanese game creator Keiji Inafune was lamenting the decline of the Japanese gaming market, stating Japanese developers were creating ‘awful’ games. More recently, Hideo Kojima, the mind behind the lauded Metal Gear series, stated Japanese studios needed to emulate their Western counterparts, or be left behind. There has in recent times been an obvious shift in both attitudes and gameplay trends to accommodate Western tastes in Japanese gaming.
But Japanese studios are still making some of console gaming’s most sought after franchises and original titles, despite what we might think. Metal Gear, Gran Turismo, Final Fantasy, Monster Hunter and Mario games all attract huge attention and sales when their latest iterations arrive.
But Sony, and other gaming giants for that matter, recognise that when it comes to consoles, Japan is now a secondary market compared to the US and European territories. Interestingly, the announcement of the PS4’s release date in Japan also coincided with the reveal of a new, cheaper, slimmer PSVita, as well as the micro-console PSVita TV. This is significant in that it represents large players recognising the handheld and casual market as a greater force in Japan as opposed to home consoles tethered to people’s TV’s.
Inafune and co. may have been right to note that there has been a general decline in Japan’s console market compared to the heady days of the PS2, however, in recent years, the overall gaming market has actually boomed in Japan. This growth spurt has been triggered by mobile gaming and the rapid adoption of smart phones. Dominated by casual and indie studios, Sony are clearly making a push for this segment with Xperia phones, Playstation Mobile, renewed focus on the PSVita and now PSVita TV.
But console gamers can still breathe a sigh of relief. The next generation of consoles has in Japan, and the rest of the world, still fired up the collective gaming imaginations of all the major players. We will still see amazing console games made in Japan for Sony’s, Microsoft’s and Nintendo’s consoles this generation.
Just don’t be surprised if they feel a bit more...Western.
Gamesbeat caught up with Blackley to extract some wisdom about Microsoft’s journey in games, what he thinks Sharma should do, and where gaming can go next. Part of his message is hopeful, but Blackley sees a lot of peril on the road that Microsoft is following. And it makes him worry about the future of gaming.
Sarah Bond's "Xbox everywhere" strategy and controversial "This is an Xbox" campaign have been blamed for alienating Xbox employees and failing to deliver results, with multiple sources telling they're relieved by her departure.
This adds more clarity to the situation. She was in charge of marketing so I 100% do. Believe this was her. The fact that she pissed off a lot of ppl with this campaign was interesting. The kicker she kicked you out if you questioned her moves. Sounds like a Satya move to me.
Ok when it comes to the marketing of the Xbox maybe not get rid of where Xbox is at but advertise the console, bundle 1 month of GP and have "xbox everywhere" as a side thing or just a minor thing. It's too late for Series consoles but do this with their next console. If GP is 30$ this needs to justified ASAP put all of ABK. Remake remaster popular games and put those out on the service. Have a handful of AAA games come day one even. Perma exclusivety is dead however they can be timed. The would at least give ppl a somewhat of a reason to invest. Satya will not allow permanent exclusives again.
Do I still think Xbox is dead? Depends, how much will Satya not get involved and let Asha and Matt figure something out. The more I think about it, I think Satya only really gets involved if the financials aren't lookin so hot. I think Xbox going multiplat was a result of wanting make their money back from ABK and of course raise their unreasonable and near unrealistic margins.
Anyway, things did get interesting and adds nuance just how Xbox is ran.
I’ve read that article they put out on this and it just sounds like a massive hit piece on her. They’ve basically thrown her under the bus.
I highly doubt all of this was just her idea, especially the multiplatform stuff.
Ever since the Zenimax and Activision deal all eyes have been on the Xbox department. There’s no way she’d have acted alone with decisions as big as these, Phil Spencer and Satya Nadella would have been all over this aswell, especially with them both being higher than her.
When they brought her in I thought to myself she’d be used as a scape goat and here we are.
It’s the exact same thing they did when Don Mattrick left “oh it wasn’t our idea, it was all Don, our new leader Phil Spencer is a gamer and will turn things around”.
Exactly, they always have to pin it on someone. Everything was Don Mattrick's fault before. Now everything is Sarah Bond's fault.
People act like these companies don't have focus groups, board meetings, focus testing, etc for these ideas before they hit.
They'd rather blame her rather than the product they asked her to market. How else was she going to market playing your xbox games on any device? Has anyone stopped to think that the marketing was bad because the product itself was bad?
But I don't feel sorry for her, she knew the kind of people she was working with
Would it still be a hit piece if it was actually true? If she really was behind the whole everything is an xbox... then I say they took the chance and it didnt pay off. Most companies let people go over bad decisions like that.
That's just it darth72, it more than likely isn't the truth because we know she didn't have control over everything at Xbox. That would be Phil Spencer, who has Don Mattrick's old position.
And to be fair, even he can't be blamed for everything since it's highly unlikely all this goes on without Nadella's blessing at some point
While I am sure she played a key role in “everything is an Xbox” it is still a hit piece. We can’t forget that Phil was in charge and at the very least gave it his blessing.
this was definitely Not her own idea.
phil and others had their grubby hands all over it.
i never particularly liked her cause she so lived in delulu land, but i guess she did what she could, given in the bad state xbox was and still is
Gamers are going to be reminiscing, over the "this is an Xbox" glory days once we get Xbox Copilot powered by AI and "the power of the AI" crap they'll be trying to shove down our throats.
So going multiplat was her idea or the marketing was the issue? If it's the latter, who cares if it was her idea or not. The decision to go multiplat is the core issue not the marketing. The marketing I guess kept it from being a "mystery" on whether or not a game was exclusive or not.
Resident Evil 7: Biohazard returns the series to its horror roots, and on the Nintendo Switch 2, you can take those frights everywhere.
I agree with you for the most part, but I think it has more to do with the MS being somewhat of a threat in the NA. In Japan, it's ruled by Sony and Nintendo. So later on, I'm betting the PS4 will start to really trot out those Japanese 3rd party exclusives.
MS and Sony are treating Japan like a third world country market.
It just goes to show how much the focus has shifted over the gens from a Japan centric industry to a almost completely westernized industry.
Just compare the sales figures of the USA, EU and Japan markets to see that the West is where the money is.
Also another interesting observation would be that the 360 is more or less on par with the PS3 in worldwide sales even if they hardly exist in Japan. They've sold about 1 million consoles to date in Japan when WW numbers are sitting at 80 million. They managed to keep pace with the PS3 though Sony were more or less successful overthere. In other words to the 360 Japan was a completely irrelevant market. If Japan was to sink into the sea it wouldnt change a damn thing for the Xbox.
Now imagine such a scenario in the USA or EU and your console is dead before even launching ... just goes to show where the focus is and Sony know that damn well.
America is Xbox strongest market, so it's wise of Sony to try and make a mark there as soon as possible.
Also home consoles aren't as popular as they used to in Japan, many prefer handhelds, so a delayed launch there might not be too big a deal.
So most likely a strategic move on Sony's part, since they might have limited stock at launch. It will be interesting to see how Japanese gamers react though...
Edit: And looking at the latest news Sony says that the february launch also will help them have more Japanese market orientated games ready, so they do get some benefits too...
PS products/consoles are selling better in the western market plus Japan moved towards on the go gaming.