Sony Establishes Software Business Department in China as PS5 Starts Strong in Country

Good for Sony, I guess. I wonder if it'll mean more censorship in games available on PS4/5 moving forward.

If Sony can make a tonne of money in China then all well and good. Just hope that this department is responsible for censoring products going out there. The whole “globalisation” push has already led to Japanese games being mutilated due to presumed western sensibilities, to the point that Japanese devs now simply self censor if they know a game is releasing on PlayStation, if Sony were ever to force the standards of the Chinese government on the west, as they have various activist groups, this would lead to multiple issues, especially in regards to what stories are told.

@themightyant
Unfortunately, their influence will be mainly in free to play online GaaS…

People like to complain about censorship, but most examples given are pretty weak. Rift Apart is censored because Rivet doesn't have big boobs? Something she's never been shown as. That's not censorship, it's one developer telling an anecdote about the development of that character (and it sounds like the end result is better than that early design anyway). Ghostwire Tokyo is censored because you don't like the translation? Too bad, localization often isn't a direct translation, they have to change some stuff for the story to make sense and flow.

If it also means we get more Chinese games kicked back this way on PS5 it is fantastic news.

Really enjoyed Gujian 3, Xuan-Yuan Sword VII and Sword and Fairy 7... some good talent over there.

@Milktastrophe
Erm, no, those things aren’t necessarily censorship. Banning games from release, excising whole game modes, covering up characters that are uncensored on other platforms, those things are clearly censorship of course.
And, in relation to this topic, certain things are simply not allowed by the Chinese government. That has been seen many times. Hopefully things will just be cut out of their games, but for financial reasons such things will largely just not be put in the games from the start rather than have potential issues with certification.

Considering the demand for the PS5 in their biggest markets I'm surprised they've even been selling them in China. Not from a censorship or whatever perspective, just from a physical demand perspective. China is big w/ a billion people, that's a lot of consoles they can be selling elsewhere where Xbox is doing well. OK that may only be the US and UK but still.

@rjejr
The censorship perspective, or rather certification, is the whole concern. China have placed repeated bans on games consoles, even after allowing some in limited numbers, due to their concerns on the liberal messages in games. They also keep changing rules on online gaming and how restricted that is. Not to mention the ever present threat of having games that costs hundreds of millions not being allowed release due to some government official feeling it’s problematic.
It’s also true that there is a big black market over there too.

@thefourfoldroot1 Well, ok, Chinese censorship isn't my concern living in the US. I do think it's weird a company would release a console in China w/ all of the out in the open game theft, but if Sony says they are making $ and people are paying for PS+, well I don't have any data available to say Sony is lying about that.

@Milktastrophe

Most of the time those changes makes zero difference if you have fun or not in a game.

Going to skip the entire game because a demon boss fight now has her boobs covered... or there are 3 lines of text in a 36hr game that is different.

Insanity

This reminds me where's Lost Soul Aside? I'm starting to think it'll never come out 😭😭😭😭😭😭

I feel like this won't age well given the volatility of the current political situation in that region

Things that get censored are usually nudity or some really out there art/design choices. I agree that we should be able to see the OG devs design, buuuuutt in most cases its just nudity or underage characters having nudity/weirdly overly sexual designs, so I get the censorship. Because I'm not playing the games to get aroused.

Well... here comes the censorship as the entirety of Sony bows to the CCP's ego.

I got pulled into Chinese security when the X-ray picked up my Move controllers. Luckily the scanner was a young female who recognized the Moves when I pulled them out of my bag. Sweating some bullets for a second there.

@theMEGAniggle I agree with censoring sexualized content. CCP won't stop there. They will request censorship of anything pro- whatever they are against at the moment. Heck, there was an uproar over a patch on Maverick's jacket in the new Top Gun movie and that it was pro-American military. I'll be surprised if it's allowed to show in China.

@Theaussiegamer92 The anime censorship on female form I think is most concerning, but cyberpunk is on ps.

@theMEGAniggle Yeah, overtly underage sexual stuff is I believe the only real domain in which any form of censorship should be applied.

@lolwhatno Nah, he just asked what you meant man. I don't know what you meant either if that helps?

Canada is #7, I bought a console this week from a store. Just doing my part for the ranking.

I have nothing insightful to add to this conversation.

@Theaussiegamer92 are you sure the VNs aren't just because they don't sell well in the west?

Seems like the perfect time to invest in an autocratic behemoth who constantly threatens its smaller democratic neighbor. What could go wrong?

@KayOL77
I would agree with that too. Don't care what region the game is made (some people will go on about different culture and all that stuff), young female characters being sexualized in any way is no good. Adult female characters? Different story and I don't have a problem with it, especially in fantasy games. It would apparently melt some people's minds to know there's women out there who don't mind sexualized adult female characters either. Crazy I know but some people out there, male, female, straight, gay, bi, enjoy over the top fantasy games that take stuff to the extreme. And if somebody doesn't like it? Cool, just move on and play one of the billion games that doesn't have that content.

@lolwhatno Fair enough. I hope you get good results 🧐👍

@Gamer83 Mind you south park sot should have been left as is I think. It was already an 18 was it not?

@KayOL77
Did South Park get censored? I never played a South Park game so I can't really comment on anything happening with them.2

While your at it SONY make a few Chip factories so people might have a 1% chance of getting hold of a PS5 console by the year 2030

@gollumb82 The chinese version is region locked. People have to flash another firmware. Also, few games are approved by the government. Buying a Chinese ps5 is a terrible idea. I live in China and I paid more to get a Japanese version.

@Uncharted2007 you know what, that's insane. I didn't think about that aspect of it, but yeah they'll totally be able to do that because China are very tight on what they want to be shown. But it won't affect the western versions of those game right?

@theMEGAniggle It's already affected multiple western releases of movies. Games will be no different. Studios don't want to waste money on creating two versions of the same thing so they'll pander to China as that's where they want to expand their market. Top Gun was an exception to the rule being followed the past five years or so. It shocked many.

@Uncharted2007 So it hasn't affected games yet but you're saying it will. Here's my thinking, if the sales in China are only amounting to a fraction of the worldwide sales, why would they base the western releases on that.

I get that you're touting expansion and stuff but that reasoning is just not in line with reality. Correct me if I'm being naive.

@theMEGAniggle It's possible that western releases have already been impacted by studios but as console gaming is relatively new in China, having been banned for years, I expect that companies wanting to expand console gaming in China is what it really boils down too. There's a massive population there and they already have western gamers on the hook. I couldn't tell you what games have been impacted or if they have been impacted yet, but I expect it to take a very similar path that the movie industry has. Heck, even the NBA. You'll see actors, players and team owners bowing as much as they can to the CCP even going so far as doing apology tours if they somehow offended the CCP; John Cena anyone?

Make no mistake, the CCP will control the content that's in your games in the near future.

@Uncharted2007 you keep using other media as an example but the only reason that there's been celebrities apologising or football players (ozil) being axed from their clubs for criticism of CCP is due to those media being consumed in China.

As you said, console gaming is new to there so I don't think its within the realms of reality to say that western videogame releases are yet to have been affected by the CCP, seeing as they didn't consume it. Moving forward I think you're right. Using NBA, Ozil and movies as an example, it will definitely eventually bleed into the western releases.

@theMEGAniggle Glad we're on the same page.

@Uncharted2007 I’m not! I’m scared now, thanks

@theMEGAniggle So am I. I don't see a bright future for humanity.

@Uncharted2007 me either

Everything's just moving towards sh*t. It's tough for us but the next next generations are going to have it hard. I see them glued to their screens at a young age. Is that life? The state of the world's politics, warfare, hate, everything seems like its at an all time low but it'll only get worse. I find it so hard to be optimistic in times like this.