14 DAY TRIAL // Hiroshi Kawano, the leader of the Japan and Asia division of Sony Computer Entertainment, says that the company plans to move more aggressively in 2014, after the February 22 launch of the PlayStation 4 on the home market.
Dualshockers quotes a Famitsu interview in which the executive stated, “The potential of the Asian market is obviously large, and there’s a promising market there for the future. We’re always looking at Asia and we will continue to seek growth there, where resource management is crucial. Even when you talk to game developers, now they can release simultaneously in Japan and Asia.”
He says that in the coming year, Sony plans to focus more on the Asia audience, which is even larger now that the Chinese government has announced that it is lifting restrictions placed on the sale of foreign-made consoles.
The first big event of the year is the Japanese launch of the PlayStation 4, which will include the introduction of some exclusive content.
Kawano added, “We plan to release new games at a regular pace. Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes will launch in March, produced by Hideo Kojima. After that, even if I can’t disclose them now, we have various games incoming. We’re currently considering how to announce them, so stay tuned.”
The PlayStation 4 has been available in the United States and in Europe since November and some Japanese gamers have been upset about the long delay.
Sony says that the gap in launch dates was necessary in order to make sure that enough PlayStation 4 home consoles were available for most of the gamers who wanted to pick one up.
The company already directed some shipments to Europe over the holidays to make sure that devices were present in stores.
The PlayStation 4 managed to sell more than 4.2 million units in 2013.