Sony’s various regional branches have historically acted largely independently but beginning last year PlayStation has been attempting to unify its divisions. We saw an example of this in a recent marketing campaign, which was consistent across the entire globe, but emphasised different brands depending on the region.
And now we’re beginning to see sale themes mirrored across the United States and Europe. Historically, each territory has run its own promotions, but this week both the Critically Acclaimed and Retro & Remasters sales launched at the exact same time. While there are differences between the software on sale, the themes are consistent across each region.
This will obviously have its advantages and disadvantages. On the plus side, neither territory will feel left out when a particularly good promotion drops, but on the other hand, PlayStation’s strength in the past has been tailoring its activity to the tastes of particular regions. How do you feel about the unification of Sony’s efforts? Let us know in the comments section below.
Comments 29
Yeah I was waiting for the Assassin's Creed Ezio Collection to be on sale... It is in the US store but not in the UK!!
Hopefully with time we get the same sales everywhere, regardless of the region, just like Xbox already do.
Fine 🙂 Then maybe Europe can get a good deal on Outer Wilds too 😅
Now can we have all their themes too? I want the Star Trek one soooo bad
As long as the German PS Store will get a boost in activity, be more up to date, get proper sorting (there are still some games in the „demo“ section that... don’t have actual demos to download, for instance) and correct some lingual errors, I’m all in for unification.
thats great news and i see no downsides at all.
this is how it should have always been.
now they have to focus on releasing any future accessories and hardware at the same time in all regions and it's perfect.
I like it, bc my gaming taste are more in line with EU. Where as here in the states ppl prefer playing COD. So the sales seem to go more towards mp games here.
So long as we still get our big in japan sale in Europe then im happy. Pretty sure the US generally gets a golden week sale, so we should be fine
I was always envious of the flash sales the US got, and we've increasingly seen more of those on our side of the pond so thats got to be a good thing.
I hope they revamp the design of the console web store from the ground up with the PS5. The one on the PS4 is so bad that I always just buy games on the actual playstation store website.
@Lando_ i think that thing with the demo section is everywhere. Ive seen that also and im in US.
@Ralizah 😨 You really think the PS4 store design is bad? That’s the first time I’ve heard anyone say that ever since they re-did it. One thing I thought was bad was the wheel of letters.
@Akurusu Yep. The store itself is slow, and the layout is confusing and unintuitive.
Be nice if they unified the prices too.
UK & EU stores usually more expensive then US and other parts of the world.
But I guess that's the way it is what with currencies, markets etc.
I wonder if this is why the EU PS Gear site was closed down, so that there is one unified global site?
@Futureshark while i dont disagree, dont forget US prices listed generally exclude the tax that is owed on top. Its probably closer than we think 🙂
Should have always been this way.
@Rob_230 - I've bought a few things on a US account and never paid anything on top of the listed price. I think the states differ though, some do pay tax and some don't. Maybe a US member can shed some light on this.
@Kalvort why not simply make a NA account so you can get those sales too?
@Shigurui it depends on the state. Some states like Illinois and others require a tax on digital goods. However, here in my state of Oklahoma we have not got there yet and therefore the price seen in the store is the price you pay.
@Rob_230 yeah i am in the US and can't remember the last flash sale we had here. Used to be like clockwork, the 3rd weekend of every month but hasn't happened in a bit here.
@Ramb0sCorner - Right, thought that was the case. I vaguely recall setting my US account up years ago on ps3 using a guide that listed tax exempt states to use.
@Ramb0sCorner flash sales lost their purpose when the prices were not that lower as it used to be.
@Ramb0sCorner if I could use the same Paypal account for both UK and US stores, then that would be fantastic. The problem is constantly buying US store credit and having money left over in that account that you can't use or transfer to the UK one.
Makes sense. I hope they keep pushing that way. It wasnt nice to see this or that only available in a territory.
so will the uk psn store have access to us themes finally? that would be really nice if true.
@Kalvort That is true. I would love to be able to use paypal across all my regional accounts. It should be possible since PayPal can convert currency. Wonder if that is a PlayStation problem with it or a PayPal one. Be nice to know where that problem lies.
@Shigurui yup, there is a list out there. The list has grown smaller though as digital sales grow. More and more states are upset that they are losing out on tax revenue and in some states they tax the sale of digital games and movies at a higher rate saying they are a luxury and should be taxed higher. It's insanity in some areas.
@Ramb0sCorner - Yeah I remember reading something about a 'Fun Tax', man that really is madness.
Cool, presumably Europe's prices will drop in line with the US now as well? Oh.
It should be the same games on offer and the same price regardless of area. Im sick to death of UK missing out on deals which are NA only. It isn't good customer relations from Sony.
@resigamer28 same price for all the region is bad for them.
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