PlayStation Boss Insists Sony Is Not Ignoring Japan

Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO, Jim Ryan, has insisted that a recent report that suggested PlayStation has “sidelined” Japanese developers and markets is “inaccurate”. Talking with Edge magazine issue #353, Ryan said: “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.” [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=confirmed-playstation-5-games&captions=true"] The stance is in opposition to a report from Bloomberg, published in early November. The report stated that PlayStation staff in Japan suggested Sony’s home country had been sidelined in promotional planning for PS5, and that Japanese development support teams had been reduced by as much as a third. But Ryan’s stance is that PS5 continues to strengthen PlayStation’s relationship with Japan. “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,” he said. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/12/04/ps5-series-x-problems-scammers-scalpers-and-bots-next-gen-console-watch"] Ryan also noted that the PS5 was released in Japan on the same day as it was in the US, unlike the PS4 which was released almost a whole three months after the November 2013 US and EU launch. “So I read that stuff,” said Ryan, referring to reports like the Bloomberg one, “A lot of that commentary is inaccurate, and Japan – as our second largest market and as Sony’s homeland – continues to be really important to us.” While Japan continues to be important to Sony, it hasn’t stopped them changing some traditions. The PS5 makes X the default select button in Japan for the first time, where previously it has always been Circle. Several veteran developers from Sony Japan have also left to set up their own studio. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt Purslow is IGN's UK News and Entertainment Writer.