Sony has confirmed they’ll be launching the PS5 console in mainland China during Q2 2021. As reported by Niko Partners Senior Analyst Daniel Ahmad on Twitter, SIE Shanghai President Tatsuo Eguchi and Vice Chairman Soeda Takehito announced the news during a special Chinese New Year greetings video. At the moment, Chinese players are having to import consoles from other markets, like Japan and the US.
Sony China has confirmed that it plans to officially launch the PlayStation 5 in Mainland China during Q2 2021.
Tatsuo Eguchi, the president of SIE Shanghai and Soeda Takehito, the vice chairman, confirmed the new today in a special Chinese New Year greetings video. pic.twitter.com/nhFzbZQTGx
— Daniel Ahmad (@ZhugeEX) February 8, 2021
Both the disc and digital versions of the PlayStation 5 got their 3C Certification in December 2020, meaning they were approved for release in the country. The version that will launch in China will likely be different to that in other countries, though. For example, online services will likely be locked to that region.
The hardware certification needed to be followed by regulator approval and software approvals as each game has to be approved individually in China. The former hurdle has already been overcome, although software approvals are still processing and these can take some time. Some games have been known to take more than six months to be approved due to the number of revisions needed. Very few games make it through the process. The PS4 launched with just six titles in the country.
Console sales have recently been heavily controlled in China, but the situation used to be far worse. The government banned console sales completely in 2000 over concerns that video games were unhealthy and too violent for young players. The ban wasn’t overturned until 2014, and SIE Shanghai was formed the same year. The PlayStation 4 was finally released in the country in March 2015 after delays due to “various factors“, 16 months after its original launch. The process for the PS5 has been far quicker. If the console does hit its Q2 2021 release window, it will be seven months at most since the console’s launch in western markets.
[Source: @ZhugeEx on Twitter]
