Sony PlayStation launches several heavyweight Chinese games. The game version of "The Return of the Great Sage" aims to reshape the Chinese mythology system

Due to various well-known reasons, the era of console games, which was developing rapidly abroad, fell into a blank in China and became an underground memory of a generation of gamers. Instead, online games, web games and mobile games became popular, and the players in China who really understood console games became a niche group. At the same time, with the sluggish Japanese economy, the game industry completed the transfer and handover from Japan to Europe and the United States as the center of the world, but Japanese games were not accepted by most European and American players, which dealt a heavy blow to the Japanese game industry.

At this time, the sudden relaxation of domestic policies on game consoles gave Sony an opportunity to return to the top of the game industry. Two years ago, Sony officially entered the mainland market and launched the PS4 console, which was warmly welcomed by domestic players. After that, Sony has always maintained the greatest enthusiasm for the mainland market and facilitated the simultaneous launch of important software and hardware products such as "Final Fantasy 15" and PlayStation VR in China. Mainland China has become a new continent that suddenly appeared when the development of global console games slowed down. Its importance is self-evident.

On July 26, Sony Interactive Entertainment (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. announced a series of latest information for the Chinese market at the "2017 PlayStation China Conference", including upcoming PlayStation VR games and video content, several new Chinese-language titles, and new partners joining the "China Star" program. This is another milestone for PlayStation in the Chinese market.

PlayStation conference full of interesting information

At the press conference, Sony first announced the impressive achievements of PS4. So far, PS4 has sold 60.4 million units worldwide, and the PlayStation Network has more than 70 million monthly active users. After PS2, Sony has another console that completely crushes its competitors. The huge gap in hardware base has also made PS4 the preferred login platform for game developers, allowing PS4 to enter a virtuous cycle of mutual encouragement between software and hardware, and at the same time cured players' years of choice difficulties.

News related to the Chinese version of PS VR include the virtual reality version of Final Fantasy 15: Warcraft of the Abyss introduced by Shanghai Oriental Pearl, the real-time strategy game VR: The Brave One Loves to Play tricks carefully created by Sony Interactive Entertainment Global Studios, and several new games. The VR video service from Jaunt China will bring the world's largest VR content library to PS VR. In addition, SIE Shanghai has reached cooperation with Youku Video, iQiyi, and NetDragon, and will provide VR video content from Youku and iQiyi, as well as educational VR content from NetDragon on the PS platform in the future. Greatly enriching the experience of PlayStation®VR users.

In terms of games, Ryohiro Suzuki from Koei Tecmo Games announced that he would launch a simplified Chinese version of "Dynasty Warriors 8" for the PS4 in the Chinese market, and provide full Chinese voice-over for the first time, saying goodbye to the empty ear of "The enemy is embarrassed, so I go and take off his clothes"; Take-Two Asia and Star Game announced a partnership to officially introduce the most acclaimed realistic NBA game "NBA 2K18" in China, making it the first blockbuster sports work on the PS4 in China.

The "China Star" program, launched by Sony Interactive Entertainment last year to support outstanding domestic developers in creating high-quality games on the PS platform, has also welcomed new partners, the world-renowned brand WACOM, and the world's leading game production studio Streamline Studios, which will provide various professional assistance to the developers of the "China Star Program".

Reshaping the mythology system of "Journey to the West" through phenomenal IP

Another highlight of this conference is the PS4 game "Journey to the West: Hero is Back" (tentative title), which is adapted from a famous domestic IP and jointly launched by Sony Interactive Entertainment, October Culture and Oasis Games. The game logo, main visual and first game trailer were announced for the first time at the conference. The game has been secretly developed for more than a year, and plans are in the future to launch related comics and other works to build a complete worldview.

"The Monkey King: Hero is Back" is a 3D animated film that expands and interprets the traditional Chinese mythological story "Journey to the West". By giving modern emotions and values ​​to characters such as Sun Wukong and Zhu Bajie in the original story of Journey to the West, the ancient mythology has been given new light and has been widely recognized by the public. It was called by the People's Daily as a rare phenomenal work in Chinese animated films in the past decade.

As the saying goes, “animation and gaming are inseparable”, there is huge commercial value behind successful animated films. “The Return of the Great Sage” may be the most likely gaming IP to succeed in the mainland in the past decade. Not to mention the infinite possibilities in the mythology system of “Journey to the West”, and its extremely broad audience base makes it valuable for long-term operation.

With the help of Sony and the PlayStation platform, will the charm of Chinese mythology become another mythology system that has spawned countless games after Greek mythology and Norse mythology? For Sony, this is also an attempt to develop Chinese local games with a wide audience and a high success rate.

In short, Sony Interactive Entertainment has spared no effort in promoting the PlayStation platform in China for more than two years, and there is still a long way to go to change the perception of Chinese players towards console games from online games, web games, and mobile games. However, with the momentum of PS4 being the only one to stand out and the continuous shaping of the Chinese market, once the enthusiasm for the Chinese console market is truly rekindled, the energy of this new continent will surely rewrite the global console game landscape.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.