Sony to bring PlayStation to China

Sony to bring PlayStation to China

ony’s announcement comes nearly a month after Microsoft revealed it would be bringing the Xbox to China in September.

In documents filed with the Shanghai Stock Exchange Monday, Sony confirmed that the PlayStation gaming console will be coming to China, Bloomberg reports.

The Tokyo-based company will be setting up two joint ventures with China’s Shanghai Oriental Pearl Group Co Ltd. One venture will manage the manufacturing and sales of the hardware, while the other will handle the software side of things, including sales, licensing, distribution and software R&D, according to Reuters.

“[The joint venture] will introduce quality, healthy games that are suitable to China’s national conditions and the preferences of domestic players, as according to the relevant government policies,” Sony announced in a statement, reported by Engadget.

Engadget notes that this stance means many PlayStation games will be censored for China, and there likely will be fewer games available in general.

Sony’s announcement comes nearly a month after Microsoft revealed it would be bringing the Xbox to China in September. Like Sony, Microsoft is partnering with a Chinese company – BesTV.

Both moves were made possible by China lifting its 13-year ban on gaming consoles this past January. Still, the Chinese market may prove difficult to penetrate. It is reportedly rife with piracy and smuggling, Reuters reports.

But despite these problems, the size of the market is difficult to ignore.

“PlayStation needs to expand its user base,” Sony CEO Kazuo Hirai told Bloomberg.

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