Why PS4 is struggling in Japan

The PlayStation 4 is struggling in Japan. But why?

The PS4 launched in Japan in February 2014 (four months after the UK and US) and has now sold 620,000 units there. In Japan, over the last couple of weeks, the Wii U outsold the PS4. Last week the PS4 outsold its predecessor the PlayStation 3 by only 500 units.

"It's doing okay," was Sony Computer Entertainment boss Andrew House's assessment of the PS4's performance in Japan so far when quizzed on the subject by Eurogamer at the Develop conference in Brighton.

This is in stark contrast to the performance of the console in the west. In the UK the PS4 is the fastest-selling console ever. Globally, the PS4 has shifted seven million units, and is selling at a faster rate than the phenomenally successful PlayStation 2 over the same time period.

So, what's going wrong in Japan? House highlighted the lack of PS4 games designed by Japanese companies - rather than the fact it launched in Japan after it did in the west.

"We're conscious of the fact we have not had yet the sort of groundswell of Japan native content from Japanese publishers and developers," House said. "I view that as temporary.

"There's definite developer and publisher enthusiasm for the platform, especially having seen the overarching success it's had in markets outside of Japan, and again this outpacing of the PlayStation 2. We'll see that come into games people in Japan will get excited about, but unfortunately a little bit later than has happened in other markets."

Last week the best-selling PS4 game in Japan was Ubisoft's open world hacking game Watch Dogs, which sold over 65,000 copies. But PS3 games continue to do well there. Bandai Namco's Kamen Rider: Battride War 2 sold just shy of 60,000 units. And the PS3 version of Watch Dogs sold just under 40,000.

So why did Japanese publishers and developers fail to get behind the PS4?

"For whatever reasons, when we were evangelising around the platform, we were having a tougher sell with Japanese publishers and developers," House admitted.

"There was a comfort level around PS3 that was playing into that. There was a slight level of concern around the viability of the console market in Japan. But we've really turned a corner on that and demonstrated that if you're a publisher that wants to reach a global market with good and immersive games then the PS4 is definitely the place to be."

At the Tokyo Game Show in September 2013, senior Sony executives told Eurogamer that they decided to launch PS4 in February because that was when Sony expected more games to be ready for its home market.

"Sony just wants to make sure that when PS4 launches in Japan there is a good line-up of titles for Japan," the console's lead architect and Knack creative director Mark Cerny said.

"Perhaps you could say that a few western developers have been more aggressive in readying titles for the hardware."

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014-07-11-why-ps4-is-struggling-in-japan

As far as I know, there is nothing major until way into 2015

Maybe... and i repeat maybe... is because not have games? But this question is too much bigger for the human being...

To add to that, in a market(Japan) that favors quality gameplay over graphic fidelity(just look at the handheld market), why do they really need a PS4 that essentially only gives them upgraded graphics?

Sadly the best Japanese games are coming on handhelds and only in Japan.

But a certain IGN-editor whose obsession with Playstation borders on the unhealthy said PS4 would be virtually unchallenged in the home-console market in japan

They cleared the first step of solving a problem.

Maybe Deep Down. If they get it done in time.

I'm glad that the ps4 has the western market to sustain it until then.

PS4 needs more RPGs, that's all