At a recent livestreamed event (local Chinese event), Sony’s Chinese production team Director, Bao Borevealed that Sony will invest 1 million yuan Where $140,080 in the Chinese hero project to support small and established game studios in the region. China Hero Project is a local development program to support independent studios in China, it was launched in 2017, and already the program has been able to support a total of 17 games in two batches, the first in 2017 then in 2019.
interesting way seven games out of the 17 have already been released. Genshin Impact being one of them, released in 2020, was backed by Sony as part of a 2019 deal between Sony Interactive Entertainment Shanghai Subsidiary and Shanghai miHoYo Network Technology Co.,Ltdthe development studio behind Genshin Impact.
Genshin Impact was an instant hit upon release and became the highest grossing game in the world. It was the most successful product of the China Hero Project, and according to Tatsuo EguchiPresident of SIE Shanghai, Sony’s greatest interest in the Chinese gaming industry is the result of the success of the strong partnership between miHoYo Network and Sony and ultimately the success of Genshin Impact in a short period of time.
Not only have games like Genshin Impact spurred the Japanese tech giant to take more interest in the Chinese gaming industry, but it has also been reported that Microsoft regrets losing the Genshin Impact exclusivity deal for Xbox consoles.
And now Microsoft is aggressively establishing long agreements and licenses regarding Chinese IP addresses. This new investment by Sony in the China Hero project will be a response to this and to maintain its position in the Chinese market.
As reported by Reuters, Bao Bo revealed in an interview that this current batch of China Hero Project will support 10 or more games enrolled in the program regardless of gender. “The magnitude of the third phase will far exceed the previous two,” Bao said, adding that Sony will publish some games and its PlayStation studios will support the registered projects.
Apart from this, it has also been confirmed that Sony will be the publisher of Convallaria and soul lost aside, the two games that were part of the previous two batches of the program. Sony managed to sell more 3.5 million units of PlayStation 4 in China and 670,000 units of PlayStation 5 since its launch in China in May 2021, as revealed by the CEO of SIE Jim Ryan.
Tatsuo Eguchi, president of SIE Shanghai, says Sony aims to sell the PlayStation 5 twice as many PlayStation 4 sales in China. According to him, the China Hero Project will be helpful for them to achieve this goal.
We want gamers around the world to better understand the creativity that comes from China. I’ve always dreamed of console games as an integral part of Chinese people’s daily entertainment,” he said.
So what do you think of Sony’s new investment in the China Hero Project? Let us know in the comment section below.