Sony is finally following in Microsoft’s footsteps, announcing today that the PlayStation will be making its way to the People’s Republic of China.
Nearly a month ago, Microsoft announced that the Xbox One would launch in China this September, after the country’s government repealed its 14-year ban on imported consoles and video games. Microsoft said it would work with China’s BesTV to bring the Xbox overseas, making it the first gaming console to be sold in the country since 2000.
Now, Engadget reports that Sony is following suit and will collaborate with Shanghai Oriental Pearl Culture Development (OPCD) to bring the PS4 to China, the Chinese company said in a statement:
“Shanghai Oriental Pearl Culture Development Co., Ltd. and Sony (China) Co., Ltd., a wholly owned Chinese subsidiary of Sony Corporation, signed a joint venture agreement in the Chinese (Shanghai) free trade zone and jointly funded a joint venture responsible for the production, marketing, Sony Computer Entertainment’s PlayStation hardware, software and related services business in China.”
The Sony and OPCD partnership will form two new companies: Sony Computer Entertainment (Shanghai) and Shanghai Oriental Pearl Sony Computer Entertainment Culture Development. One will be responsible for the manufacturing and sales of the hardware while the other will manage the service, sales, distribution and research and development of the PlayStation software.
Sony China will own 70 percent of Sony Computer Entertainment Shanghai but will own just 49 percent of the second company.
Though this is exciting news for Chinese gamers, China still has some pretty strict content rules that require every game to be approved before it can be sold. The blog Games in Asia noted that content that won’t be allowed in games includes gambling-related content, anything that violates China’s constitution, and anything that harm’s China’s reputation, security and interests.
