Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO, Jim Ryan, has reiterated that reports of the company overlooking Japan in favor of the Western market are false.
In early November, a Bloomberg report claimed that Sony is shifting its focus towards the West and is sidelining the Japanese market because it’s disappointed by the PlayStation 4’s performance in the country. Sony’s spokeswoman Natsumi Atarashi denied the claim at the time, and her statement is now echoed by Ryan, who told EDGE magazine that the Japanese market remains “incredibly important” to Sony.
Ryan said (via Video Games Chronicle):
The Sony stance is that the Japanese market remains incredibly important to us. We have not been as excited about the engagement of the Japanese game development community as we are now for many years. That continues and strengthens yet again with PS5. In our two launch shows – which featured a reasonable amount of games, but not a huge number of games – there were eight Japanese-developed titles there, many of which are the subject of collaboration and partnership between PlayStation and the Japanese publishing community.
Ryan added that Sony “made a statement” to this effect by launching the PS5 simultaneously in the West and Japan, which was not the case with the PS4. He told EDGE that he read Bloomberg’s report and called the commentary surrounding it “inaccurate.” “Japan – as our second largest market and as Sony’s homeland – continues to be really important to us,” he concluded.
Well, there you have it – straight from the horse’s mouth.
