Why is Sony Abandoning Japan?

[kitler53]

The ps5 sales in japan are abysmal and japan is such an important market not just because they have a lot of gamers but because they have a lot of game developers.  they need to prioritize japan NOW or the ps5 will be doomed.

[Xevross]

Japan abandoned Sony first.

Not even joking. Well, abandoned is a bit extreme but PS and home console sales in general have been in very steady constant decline and it requires a lot of investment that won't pay off in any other country to try and even stop the decline, never mind return to old numbers. There's just no point, Sony are doing the right thing by shrugging and selling what they sell. The Japanese market did this to itself, and they're the only ones paying for it. So who cares really.

[the-pi-guy]

Ironically the rest of Sony is going big in Japan.  

I don't think SIE is abandoning Japan.  They are likely transitioning to more AAA at Japan Studio. And it's so weird to me that people were panicking about some creatives leaving, despite the fact that when the director was leaving he said that he left because they were transitioning to AAA development.

Not to mention the fact they launched the PS5 with a game wholly made by Japan Studio and another game made with Japan Studio (Demon's Souls).  

They are having stock issues everywhere, and they are ultimately going to focus on the regions that are most competitive.  A lot of people buy the system their friends use, at least it was a powerful seller during the PS3 eras and earlier. Maybe at this point Sony has enough brand loyalty to get over that.  Even still it makes sense to push in the US and Europe to prevent people from buying an XSX instead.  This won't happen in Japan. Japan doesnt care about Xbox.  

It's a lot of complaining about the current situation and not looking at the future.  

[Xevross]

Ironically the rest of Sony is going big in Japan. 

I don't think SIE is abandoning Japan.  They are likely transitioning to more AAA at Japan Studio. And it's so weird to me that people were panicking about some creatives leaving, despite the fact that when the director was leaving he said that he left because they were transitioning to AAA development.

Not to mention the fact they launched the PS5 with a game wholly made by Japan Studio and another game made with Japan Studio (Demon's Souls). 

They are having stock issues everywhere, and they are ultimately going to focus on the regions that are most competitive.  A lot of people buy the system their friends use, at least it was a powerful seller during the PS3 eras and earlier. Maybe at this point Sony has enough brand loyalty to get over that.  Even still it makes sense to push in the US and Europe to prevent people from buying an XSX instead.  This won't happen in Japan. Japan doesnt care about Xbox. 

It's a lot of complaining about the current situation and not looking at the future. 

Most of the real complaints are about Sony not making JRPGs and not doing anything to focus on or win back the Japanese market.

And the reason they aren't is that its impossible, Japan mainly cares about mobile and handheld stuff, they don't care about triple AAA production values (as a market in general). Monster Hunter World was a decline in Japan, FF7R didn't even hit 1mil there, FFXV was a big decline. DQXI did by far the best of any game this gen (mainly due to 3DS release), and it was the least impressive of the lot.

Western games don't sell that big in Japan at all. To have Switch-like massive success in Japan, you need to be cheap, accessible, handheld and have lots of games like DQXI, Animal Crossing, Mario & Pokemon.

Playstation has support from franchises like Persona, but they are nowhere near as big as the Nintendo ones. DQ and MH are the only consistent 1m+ franchises that playstation has now, and the Japanese know both of those are still coming out on Nintendo consoles so they don't need PS for them. If FF was still that size then PS might look healthier, but its not. FF went in a western direction, and the decline in Japan is sharp. The reason FF has done this (just like Sony) is that it is the best direction and is successful, appeal to the rest of the world and you make more money. FF7R and FFXV are the most successful Final Fantasy games, despite being way down in Japan compared to the rest.

To win back franchises like MH and DQ you'd need PS5 to be portable, which it isn't. So the only other option is to create your own massive franchises like AC and Pokemon, but they have no guarantee of success in Japan and will have an even lower chance of success in the west. Its much safer to spend your game making budget on franchises which you know will sell millions worldwide, and let Japan be Japan. Its a market so detached from the rest of the world.

[Legend]

I don't care for JRPGs or "Japanese" games in general, and I feel like a lot of modern/casual gamers in the west feel the same. As Xev says, FF15 and FFVIIR have improved global sales by being less traditional. I think Sony and most developers will do what they can to bring Japanese player interest inline with the west, instead of making dedicated games for the market.

It seems like this has been happening since PS4's launch.

[darkknightkryta]

Japanese gaming tastes have changed. And to be frank, I'm not sure what their tastes are. I mean, we'll leave the discussion about the Switch's library vs the Wii U library, but the Wii U sold like trash and the Switch is destroying things in Japan sales wise. The same games released on the Wii U sold terribly, while they sold amazing on the Switch.  I can't, and I don't think many people can, understand why.  Is it because the Switch is a handheld? Apparently not, since the Switch Lite is selling terribly there (Apparently). Consoles sell poorly as shown by the Wii U selling poorly despite the same software selling amazing on the Switch. So what can Sony do? Can Sony make another handheld? Sure, but even if they cram a PS5 into a hand held, break the laws of physics, get 20 hours of battery life, and have 100% compatability with the PS5, it still won't sell.

[kitler53]

Japanese gaming tastes have changed. And to be frank, I'm not sure what their tastes are. I mean, we'll leave the discussion about the Switch's library vs the Wii U library, but the Wii U sold like trash and the Switch is destroying things in Japan sales wise. The same games released on the Wii U sold terribly, while they sold amazing on the Switch.  I can't, and I don't think many people can, understand why.  Is it because the Switch is a handheld? Apparently not, since the Switch Lite is selling terribly there (Apparently). Consoles sell poorly as shown by the Wii U selling poorly despite the same software selling amazing on the Switch. So what can Sony do? Can Sony make another handheld? Sure, but even if they cram a PS5 into a hand held, break the laws of physics, get 20 hours of battery life, and have 100% compatability with the PS5, it still won't sell.

yes, it is because switch is a handheld.   switch lite sales are not relevant because as a system it is gimped: it can't really play every game and some games display bad due to bad scaling.

also i'm convinced nintendo is a bi-release manufacture now.  i think their next console will fail and the one after will succeed.  despite my critiques of their hardware not aging well it seems like nintendo casuals play it much longer than others.  since every system basically has the same 5ish games (mario kart, mario party, smash brothers, animal crossing) it seems like their fine buying these once every 10 years (every other gen) instead of once every 5 years (every gen).