Although it should very much be considered just a rumor for the time being, numerous Chinese gaming and tech media are reporting that Sony may be working on bringing the PlayStation 4 to China. The evidence? Reports that late last year, high-level executives from the Shanghai Oriental Pearl group (a giant corporation with its hands in everything from tourism to online media to the Pearl Tower in Shanghai) including board chair Niu Weiping traveled to Japan to meet with Hiroshi Kawano, the director of Sony Computer Entertainment in Asia.
The ostensible purpose of this trip was just for the folks from Shanghai Oriental Pearl to learn more about the gaming industry, but the PS4 naturally would have played a big role in their discussions, and domestic tech analysts seem to have concluded that this meeting might well have been the first step towards a joint-venture partnership between the two companies that could eventually see them launch the PS4 in China together.
But it’s worth pointing out that these reports seem to be pretty vaguely sourced (which isn’t uncommon for the Chinese tech media), and that there are a number of other reasons the two companies could have been meeting. For example, it’s possible that Shanghai Oriental Pearl Group is more interested in creating some kind of videogame-themed amusement park (the company is also involved in real estate development) and was just in Japan to talk about licensing some of Sony’s IP.
Games in Asia has contacted Sony for comment on these reports and will update this post if we hear back.
(via QQ Games)
Stay updated on the go with our mobile app.
Get latest insights with smoother, more personalized experience through TIA mobile app.
