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Jim Ryan has refuted claims that Sony is moving away from Japan in an exclusive interview in Edge Magazine, claiming the company is excited at the state of game development in the country.
Speaking in E353, which goes on sale today 3 December, Ryan is asked about "conscious shift away from the Japanese market", as some have suggested is happening after PlayStation has swapped the meanings of the Circle and X button for the PS5. Ryan responds: "The Sony stance is that the Japanese market remains incredibly important to us. We have not been as excited about the engagement of the Japanese game development community as we are now for many years."
Ryan points out that roughly ten years ago, Japanese developers seemed to be moving towards mobile gaming, but have since come back to consoles and PlayStation in the past 5 years. He explains: "We saw in the second half of the PS4 cycle a greater level of engagement from those Japanese publishers. That continues and strengthens yet again with PS5."
He also highlights the Future of Play showcases from earlier in the year, where 8 of the games highlighted in both streams came from Japanese developers. Ryan then says: "I’d also observe that we’re making a statement by launching in Japan day and date with the US, and that is not what we did with PS4. So I read that stuff. A lot of that commentary is inaccurate, and Japan – as our second largest market and as Sony’s heartland – continues to be really important to us."
Ryan discusses much more in the latest issue of Edge, including the PS5's price point, next-gen pricing, and the implications the pandemic has had on launching the PS5. Be sure to pick up the latest copy of Edge online at Magazines Direct.
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