New gaming market details made available by Enterbrain have revealed that during the first half of 2014 Japan swept in ¥70.63 billion. It’s only a small increase compared to the first half of 2013, caused by the under performance in sales delivered by Sony’s PS4.
The PlayStation 4 launched in Japan mid-late February, several months behind North America and Europe but still early enough in the year to make an impact on the market. According to Media Crate Data the console has failed to sell more than 10,000 units in a single week for more than two months, this places the PS4’s popularity behind Sony’s Vista and the Wii U.
Not only is the PS4 not selling to its potential, there wasn’t a single PS4 title in Japan’s top ten, with the list dominated by new PS3 and Vita releases as well as Nintendo 3DS titles. The theory behind the shortfall of sales is that it may be due to the lack of Japanese focused titles on the new platform, this is worrying as Japan looks towards smartphone gaming instead.
It’s going to be a tough battle for Sony to win more hearts (and wallets) in the East Asian region. Their only hope is a better output from the Japan studio and to wait for Final Fantasy XV or Kingdom Hearts III to be completed and hopefully push sales.
