14 DAY TRIAL // The PlayStation 4 home console has been more successful than Sony has been expecting since it was launched in Europe and in North America in November of 2013, but the device has not managed to make as much of an impact in Japan since it was introduced during February of this year.
Andrew House, one of the leaders of the company, tells Eurogamer that his team is aware of the limited sales and that the situation will change in the coming months, as more special content for the market is introduced.
He states, "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. 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."
Apparently, the PS3 was so successful in Japan that many developers were very comfortable with it and did not have any plans to explore the way the next generation of devices could improve the games they were creating.
The executive adds, "There was a slight level of concern around the viability of the console market in Japan. But 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."
At the moment, the PlayStation 4 is selling less devices than the Nintendo-made Wii U in Japan and barely manages to stay ahead of the PS3.
Sony says that it will introduce a range of specific experiences before the end of the year, which will boost sales of the console, but has not yet detailed their exact nature or when exactly they will be available.
The Xbox One will be launched on the Japanese market in September, at the same time as on a number of other secondary markets, and Microsoft is aiming to make an impact by offering players access to two free games with the device.
The competition between the two next-gen platforms is heating up, especially now that both sell for the same price of 399 dollars or Euro.
Both companies are expected to introduce either temporary price cuts or some new bundles in time for Christmas in order to boost overall sales before the end of 2014.