The hit Sony games are played by tens of millions of people, but it would be better if there were even more.
The hit Sony games are played by tens of millions of people, but it would be better if there were even more.
Sony’s head of gaming, Jim Ryan, was interviewed by GamesIndustry. Ryan talked about the current position of the PlayStation in the gaming market, remembered how it all began, and dreamed about what could be next.
Most of the workday during the pandemic was spent in darkness.… First, Ryan got up very early to meet with Sony’s Japanese office, then went on a break, and then got in touch with the American office.
Play At Home has proven to be very popular… In total, over two waves, Sony has given away 60 million copies of free games. Perhaps, if it comes to lockdowns again, Sony will arrange a third wave of hands.
The hit PlayStation games are now played by tens of millions of people: The audience of a particularly popular game is 10-20 million.
At the start, Sony’s gaming division was not spoiled by budgets… When the Frankfurt office opened in the early nineties, the furniture for it was bought from the local IKEA. Then they counted how much was left and wondered if they would have to assemble the furniture ourselves. I didn’t have to.
It was difficult to bring the first PlayStations to the European market… In those days, there was no euro, you had to deal with a huge number of regional currencies. The consoles were not really bought and the European team was summoned to the carpet in Japan.
PlayStation creator Ken Kutaragi invited European managers to rethink the way they organize their business, making it more efficient. They did just that – as a result, the PlayStation 2 in Europe was in the lead in sales.
PlayStation contributed to the buildup of the gaming markets in Russia and Spain… Before the arrival of the PlayStation, the markets of both countries were very small, and the Middle East never played games at all. Sony has managed to open these markets up to the gaming industry, something Ryan is particularly proud of.
Ryan’s career highlights this is the same conversation with Ken Kutaragi, the launch of the PlayStation 4 after the problematic PlayStation 3 and the start of the PlayStation 5, which had to be brought to the market during the pandemic, sitting at home.
Most surreal career event – the opportunity to watch the presentation of the PlayStation 5 with you in the lead role. Previously, these shows were held live, now it’s a recording and Ryan watches it with his family.
The pandemic has greatly increased interest in games… When things get better with the covid, some of the new players will leave, but some will remain.
In the future, Ryan hopes, in terms of audiences, games will be on par with music and movies. Then the hits of the PlayStation will be able to enjoy not tens, but hundreds of millions of people.
Apparently, you won’t have to sell hundreds of millions of consoles for this.
It is interesting
