Just recently, we covered a story regarding internal strife over at Sony PlayStation. Bloomberg had revealed how the focus on blockbuster games created a problematic environment within the company. It looks like it has also been splashing over on their relationship with the Eastern market, as a Reddit-verified AMA has led to some rather curious internal developments. The anonymous employee revealed that the relocation of their headquarter was just the beginning of a power struggle from the West that has become rather one-sided at this point. He states the following:
PlayStation is a historically Japanese brand. In the time since PlayStation debuted, America has grown to be the largest video game market. There’s been a lot of internal competition for the ‘control’ of the PlayStation brand and over the past several years you can clearly see where America has been winning. Relocation of HQ, shutdown of most of Japan Studios, and the DualSense’s X default confirm (as a final ‘f*** you’) are some of the notable examples off the top of my head.
We’ve seen the first development when they shut down the Japanese developers, who worked on smaller titles like Gravity Rush. Japan Studio has a long history with Sony, and most of its development staff were let go. Asobi Team did become a new home for some developers but is claimed to be a move due to the production studios’ lack of profitability. However, the 1993-founded studio has quite an extensive history with the brand and represented their Eastern market. They even assisted the development of Days Gone and the PlayStation 5 launch title, Demon’s Souls. It might be something to keep a close eye on as the company continues to face PlayStation 5 delivery issues and Xbox’s growing competition through their Gamepass options.
Source: Reddit via PlayStation Lifestyle, Game Industry
