When Sony decided to merge JAPAN Studio into Team Asobi and move external production to a more global PlayStation Studios location, players were naturally concerned as to how this would affect titles created in the country. However, Sony seems to be making good on their promise to create content suited to the Japanese market by hiring producers to work with independent game developers in Japan and Asia.
The roles will see the successful candidates working with the best independent game developers in Japan and Asia to find, evaluate, produce, and launch their video games. The producers will be involved all the way from the initial concept stage through to the games’ releases. The hope is that ongoing partnerships can be formed between developers from these regions and PlayStation Studios XDEV to develop “high quality” PlayStation exclusives. The company is currently looking for a Producer, Technical Producer, and Senior Producer to fulfill these roles.
Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Jim Ryan recently said the PlayStation 5 console will have more exclusive games than any generation before it. This includes content specifically suited to the Japanese market. The creation of the producer roles will help with their aim of strengthening ties with Japanese developers too. The company has repeatedly said the Japanese market remains “incredibly important” to the company and they’re not sidelining it despite the relocation of a lot of studios there. Instead, this is apparently a result of competition between the West and Japan for control of the company now that America has grown to become the biggest video game market.
Japan isn’t the only Asian country of focus, though. For example, the China Hero Project was also set up with the purpose of working with developers to create exclusive content for PlayStation. One of the latest titles to emerge from the scheme will be Lost Soul Aside, which recently showed off 18 minutes of new gameplay after years of silence. The PS5 console will launch in the country in just a couple of days time, with pre-orders selling out in just 20 minutes.
[Source: Sony Interactive Entertainent via ResetEra]
