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September 30, 2015

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Home » Business » Biz Special

Sony, other console makers seize initiative

By Zhu Shenshen | September 30, 2015, Wednesday | Print Edition

DURING Shanghai’s annual ChinaJoy game show, dozens of Chinese players stood up to three hours in front of Sony booths waiting for a hands-on chance to try out the latest PlayStation games and the headset virtual reality device code-named Sony Morpheus.

Sony Morpheus, now officially called PlayStation VR, will probably debut in China next year, the company said in mid-September. It also announced the price of PlayStation 4 on the Chinese mainland will drop from 2,899 yuan (US$453) to 2,399 yuan.

It’s all part of Sony’s rapid expansion in China, two years after the Shanghai Free Trade Zone was created to trial free-market reforms that benefit both foreign companies and domestic companies and spur consumption.

Top information technology firms from Apple, Microsoft, Sony and Amazon have invested heavily in the zone. Even Facebook, though its services are not currently accessible on the mainland, has tested the waters in the zone through a subsidiary.

Sony and Microsoft are two most noteworthy overseas IT firms in the zone. Both have released latest-generation console game products in the past year after a 14-year mainland ban on foreign console game product sales was lifted as part of the zone’s reforms.

Oculus, which was acquired by Facebook for US$2 billion, established a subsidiary in the zone in March to focus on development and sales of virtual reality game devices.

Virtual reality gadgets that allow users to wear headsets and play games without hands and smartphones have attracted investment from Nokia, Sony, HTC, Microsoft, Oculus and LeTV. In 2016, sales of virtual reality gadgets such as PlayStation VR and Oculus headsets are forecast to top 140 million units, compared with “very limited sales” to date, according to researcher TrendForce.

“The console game market in China probably is the new bright spot after the net games and mobile games business,” said Sun Shoushan, vice head of the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television.

China’s video game industry is set to see US$10 billion in sales this year, said PricewaterhouseCoopers in a report.

But it’s still in its infancy, with significant untapped potential.

Console game users are “hardcore game fans,” said Takehito Soeda, head of Sony’s PlayStation business in China. They are outnumbered by online and mobile game users, but they spend more time and money on games, he added.

Console game devices are also tightly integrated with computers, smartphones and other devices.

In the latest global release of Windows 10, Microsoft made Xbox and personal computers connectable and integrated, offering users better entertainment experiences.

Chinese firm Letv also has developed a console and related virtual reality gadgets, which are connected with their digital TVs.

Sony kicked off its long-awaited latest PlayStation game consoles on the mainland in March, after a two-month delay related to approval glitches.

That same month, Sony linked up with Shanghai-based media giant Oriental Pearl Group to sell PlayStation 4, at 2,899 yuan (now 2,399 yuan). A handheld PlayStation Vita costs above 1,299 yuan.

Microsoft’s Xbox One was launched in the Shanghai Free Trade Zone in 2014 as the first game console legally available on the mainland since 2000.

Users of Xbox in China are able to access BesTV film and sports programs through a cooperation agreement between both companies.

The contents included streaming videos and English Premier League football games, both sides said.

Still, despite initial successes, both Sony and Microsoft face challenges in China, such as game publishing censorship.

Sony admitted that it was “challenged somewhat by censorship,” but it said it still sees “tremendous potential for gaming as an entertainment medium in China.”

To capture the market, console game vendors are speeding up localization in the domestic market.

At a summer game conference, Sony announced it would release more than 20 game titles on the mainland, in cooperation with top domestic game firms such as Giant and Snail.

Sony invested heavily on advertisements in Shanghai, Nanjing and other major cities, and it established a fan club specifically aimed at Chinese players.

Its American rival Microsoft has also accelerated the introduction of top game titles on Xbox, such as Halo.

Biz Special


 

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