Sony, the Japanese electronics giant, officially launched its PlayStation (PS) 5 console in China on April 29, five months after it was unveiled globally in November 2020.
The gaming console will go on sale in China from May 15, according to a CNBC report.
The expected price for the PS5 disc version will be 3,899 yuan and 3099 yuan for the digital model. The pre-orders began on April 29. Play Station 5 was introduced in India in January this year.
Reports suggest that Microsoft is also expected to launch its latest Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S console in China soon. According to the CNBC report, Microsoft received safety approvals for its Xbox hardware in China towards the end of 2020.
According to the report, PS5 will come with “Sackboy,” “Ratchet and Clank” and “Genshin Impact”, a hugely popular game from a Chinese developer.
Another title, “Lost Soul Aside”, by Chinese game maker Ultizero Games will also be brought to the PS5. Eventually, more games from Chinese developers will make their way onto the console, apart from original Sony first-party titles.
The game consoles were banned in China in 2000. The ban was lifted after 14 years following which the official releases of game consoles became possible. According to the report, owing to the ban, personal computers and now mobile phones have become major gaming gadgets in China.
China’s total game revenue exceeded $40 billion in 2020 with the majority from mobile games. The report added that console game revenue is only about 2 percent of the total pool.
There are strict censorship laws and long approval processes for gaming consoles in China. This has led to the mushrooming of a “grey market” — where sellers import consoles from Hong Kong and Japan and sell them on Chinese e-commerce websites, often for huge profits, the report added.
