Eddie-Griffin
Banned
Sony has been pushing their western first-party/2nd-party exclusives in Japan for awhile with ups and downs, and while it seems that some games have in the past done well, it does seem like there's something preventing Sony from getting these games become bigger in the region. When you step back and look at Sony published western developed IP in Japan, it puts things into perspective that the best selling of those is a game from 1997 back when SIE was still SCE.
Take a look at the top 10 best-selling Sony published first/2nd party console western developed exclusives in japan, From GDL.
While there has been improvements the last 5 years due to heavy marketing strategies in some areas, with others nothing much has changed. I'm not entirely sure what Sony could do to make their first-party/2nd party western exclusives bigger in Japan like they are in the west, but when the best selling of them is a game from 1997, and the others in the top 3 are from 1996 and 1998, that does bring to question what exactly is going wrong. Because they have more marketing and presence these days, or rather, pretty much every console after the PSX has had more, so the fact they can't seem to get a western exclusive to break the glass ceiling here is very curious.
I mean if Ghost of Tsushima didn't work, and doesn't look like to have the legs required, than I'm at a loss for what Sony could try to be honest. I mean there are some games like Uncharted, or Horizon where you can spot the obvious reason why growth is limited, but with games like Knack, or Spider Man as Marvel is very popular in Japan, or Ghost, which basically catered to the culture, not really pushing through, it's really odd.
I do think Ghost will pass Ratchet and Clank on the list in the end at the very least. But outside certain obvious games, I'm not sure what they are doing wrong here, given how popular GTA, COD, and several other third-party western games are in Japan in comparison.
Take a look at the top 10 best-selling Sony published first/2nd party console western developed exclusives in japan, From GDL.
- Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back - 1,099,708 (1997)
- Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped - 917,105 (1998)
- Crash Bandicoot - 694,104 (1996)
- Ratchet and Clank - 562,658 (2002)
- Ghost of Tsushima - 457,094 PS4 (Current PS5 - 19,309 ) (2020 & 2021)
- Knack - 400,888 (2014)
- Formula 1 - 379,402 (1996)
- Marvels Spider Man - 323,023 (2018)
- Crash Team Racing - 301,334 (1999)
- Horizon Zero Dawn - 290,487 (2017)
While there has been improvements the last 5 years due to heavy marketing strategies in some areas, with others nothing much has changed. I'm not entirely sure what Sony could do to make their first-party/2nd party western exclusives bigger in Japan like they are in the west, but when the best selling of them is a game from 1997, and the others in the top 3 are from 1996 and 1998, that does bring to question what exactly is going wrong. Because they have more marketing and presence these days, or rather, pretty much every console after the PSX has had more, so the fact they can't seem to get a western exclusive to break the glass ceiling here is very curious.
I mean if Ghost of Tsushima didn't work, and doesn't look like to have the legs required, than I'm at a loss for what Sony could try to be honest. I mean there are some games like Uncharted, or Horizon where you can spot the obvious reason why growth is limited, but with games like Knack, or Spider Man as Marvel is very popular in Japan, or Ghost, which basically catered to the culture, not really pushing through, it's really odd.
I do think Ghost will pass Ratchet and Clank on the list in the end at the very least. But outside certain obvious games, I'm not sure what they are doing wrong here, given how popular GTA, COD, and several other third-party western games are in Japan in comparison.
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