PS4 Is "Doing OK" In Japan

The platform will really take off when content is created specifically for Japanese gamers, says PlayStation boss Andrew House.

PlayStation boss Andrew House has revealed the state of PlayStation 4's health in Japan. "It's doing OK," he said in a new interview from the Develop conference in Europe this week. The PS4 launched in Japan at the end of February and sold more than 370,000 units in a matter of days, with the current total sales tally 620,000 for the country.

"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," he added. "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."

"There was a comfort level around PS3 that was playing into that," he said. "There was a slight level of concern around the viability of the console market in Japan."

Another reason given as to why the PS4 is struggling in Japan: the nature of entertainment streaming services in Japan. Streaming services are not as popular in Japan, House said. "If you look at the Japanese market, for a variety of reasons, you have not seen a dominant player in streaming services happen," House said. "You see an inherent conservatism around film and TV content holders that doesn't allow for the rise of these brand new services. I think that's another factor."

"We'll see over time great games coming from Japanese publishers and developers. That's point number one. Point number two, which is hampering us a little bit, is for a variety of other structural reasons around the entertainment industry in Japan, we're not seeing that secondary usage," he added. "Those two are colluding together."

"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."

PS4 lead system architect Mark Cerny, said that PS4's fortunes will improve as time goes on. "It's because the products are not there to compel the people to buy the console," he said about why the PS4 has not been an instant hit in Japan. "We'll have a much better read on that a year or two after the Japanese publishers start releasing those interesting titles."