With the recent lifting of the console ban in china, both Sony and Microsoft are rushing to compete in the new market.Just last month, Microsoft announced it would be bringing Xbox One to China in September. Not to be outdone, Sony has officially announced plans to bring Playstation to China. When asked about the console ban lift, Sony said that China would be a “promising market” however the company has no concrete plan on how to approach it. In fact, Sony hasn’t mentioned specifically what they will be bringing to China, but it’s safe to assume that the Playstation 4 will be a main focus.
Sony’s announcement promises to “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.” Essentially, this all means that games could be heavily censored in China, and there’s a major possibility that not all AAA titles will be available in the country. Both Microsoft and Sony will have to cooperate with the Chinese government in order to get their products on the shelves.
It will be very interesting to see how China will play a role in the console wars. Could this one country completely change the tide and make the Xbox One the more successful of the two? As of now, there’s no official date as to when Sony launches it’s Playstation line in China, but chances are it will be around the same time as the Xbox One. Do you think Sony and Microsoft will greatly benefit from China’s sales? Or will the concept of consoles be so far-out for china that both consoles may simply flop and not do well at all? Let us know in the comments what you think the console ban lift means for the gaming industry.