Recently, China’s Annual Game Industry Conference of 2021 was held. Sony Interactive Entertainment’s Shanghai President Tatsuo Eguchi was interviewed at this conference, presenting his perspective to China’s gaming industry.
During the interview, Tatsuo Eguchi said he has confidence in the future of China’s gaming industry. Not only because of the vast population base and the growing number of talented developers but also because more and more Chinese developers have begun to realize the opportunity in console games, releasing high-quality games to the global markets, such as Genshin Impact. In the interview, Tatsuo Eguchi said they hoped that the PS5 console could achieve twice the sales of the PS4 in the Chinese market.
A significant point was drawn in the conference to abide by current government mandates and restrict under-aged gamers from accessing video games. Tatsuo Eguchi also adds that since consoles have integrated parental control functions to limit children’s game-time and content, it is the most convenient platform for implementing the protection programs. Now all console games published in China have been connected to the real-name authentication system to prevent game addiction.
Currently, most Chinese game developers still have some work to do to catch up with the leading international studios in terms of technical prowess and management structure. Sony is now cultivating and supporting small and medium-sized teams through the China star plan, which is intended to assist development teams in publishing games in overseas areas.