Microsoft isn’t the only one having problems with its first-party line-up of games in India. Rival Sony suffers from its own issues. Finding Playstation-exclusive titles officially in the country has been exceedingly tough for customers in the last six months or so. It’s an odd scenario given that Sony is the market leader here. We asked Sony India’s Playstation boss Atindriya Bose what exactly seems to be the problem.
(See: Why finding copies of Sony games is slowly becoming impossible in India)
Console certification
The shortage of system sellers such as Uncharted and God of War is something Bose is aware of, and it’s something he’s looking to fix.
There have been constraints on how we supply the market. We are working with the distributor to get this sorted as soon as possible. During the summer months due to BIS certification processes we were unable to focus on the software side of the business.
The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) certification process he refers to is the Indian government’s regulations which demand that video game consoles be certified before being put up for sale in the country. It’s something that got instituted around the Playstation 4 (PS4) launch in the country, and has made things difficult for Sony India. Given the amount of red-tape and bureaucracy involved when it comes to any government-related work in this country, the delay seems plausible. But there’s more to it than just that.
Retailers can’t stock games
Bose claims that retailers here struggle to stock games. Even more so when it comes to the smaller, independent stores that make up more than half of India’s gaming landscape.
Many of the smaller retailer’s capability of stocking software is difficult. This results in a backlash on the distribution side of it because it’s a function of how much retail can sustain.
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