Platinum Games: Japanese developers will not ignore the PS5 because of Sony's course on the USA
The launch of the PlayStation 5 in Japan turned out to be a record low, and local players were dissatisfied with the company’s increased attention to the western market. However, Platinum Games studio is confident that Sony’s new strategy will not affect the attitude of Japanese developers to the platform in any way.Atsushi Inaba, the head of Platinum Games, spoke about this in an interview with Video Games Chronicle.
He noted that the console industry in Japan is changing, and sees nothing wrong with changing Sony’s priorities.
“The fact that PlayStation appeared in Japan does not mean that it should work only in the Japanese market. At the same time, I don’t think the company has become American. I think this is an international brand that does not belong to any particular country,” Inaba said.At the same time, he clarified that the players may have a different view of the problem. If Sony gives priority to releases in the US to the detriment of Japan, it will surely rightly upset users.
Hideki Kamiya, co-founder of Platinum Games and game designer Devil May Cry, noted that he sees no reason to ignore the PS5 as a platform. He also noted that due to the shortage of PS5, it is difficult to assess the prospects of the console in the Japanese market.
“One market was chosen in favor of another, but I don’t think Japan will be left out. I don’t see any reason why Japanese developers will avoid Sony,” Kamiya said.
For the first time, information about Sony’s new strategy appeared in last year’s Bloomberg material. The publication stated that the company excluded Japan from its marketing plan to promote the PS5 and decided to focus on the United States and other Western countries.
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a result, PS5 sales in Japan for the first six weeks amounted to 240 thousand copies — less than the starting figures of any of their previous large consoles. Also, local players were dissatisfied with Sony’s decision to reassign the selection button on the gamepad (X instead of the traditional Japanese O).