Recently China relaxed its decade old ban on gaming consoles and both Microsoft and Sony were quick to confirm that their new consoles will indeed be released in the People’s Republic. While Sony’s plans are still not known Microsoft went ahead last month and released Xbox One in China. Sony has set the wheels in motion but has still not provided any concrete details about when its new console will be released in China.
Paperwork filed by Sony reveals that it expects to ship 200,000 PlayStation 4 units in China every year starting December 2014. Not only will this open up a completely new market for the company but will also compete against the Xbox One that’s currently selling unopposed in the People’s Republic. For Chinese customers this would mean more choice.
Even though the filing was made and it was subsequently approved Sony Computer Entertainment points out that its not set in stone. In a statement SCE has confirmed that some parts in the filing, such as number of staff and amount of shipment, is only tentative and does not reflect the actual business plan.
Sony is yet to officially announce which system will be released in China and for how much. The PlayStation 4 has outsold Xbox One over the past few months by a large margin and it would be very interesting to see if that happens down in China as well, but for that to happen, Sony first has to release its console there. It can’t be said for sure right now exactly when that’s going to happen.
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