(Chinese Version)

Back in the 80s, console games opened the first golden age for game industry and bred a group of legendary game companies like Nintedo, Sony and Electronic Arts. These gaming giants have been the leading force in the industry ever since the good old days. Unfortunately, the manufacture and sales of console games were banned from the country since 2000, video games only boomed in China for a very short time in the 90s. However, everything changed last year as the Shanghai Free Trade Zone came into being. And now, the console game industry is literally embracing an opportunity to rise from the ashes.

In February this year, the State Administration of Press Publication, Radio, Film and Television announced on its official website that several game titles have been approved to enter the Chinese market. Chinese gamers now can purchase and enjoy Dynasty Warriors 8, Final Fantasy X/X-2 on Playstation 4 and Your Shape Fitness Evolved and Fruit Ninja Kinect 2 on Xbox One.

Rumors are also around that Sony is having a hard time negotiating with Chinese authorities to get through tough censorship, then it has to put off the launching date of PS4 in China. As for Xbox One, launched last September, it’s not exactly doing great in terms of sales rate because only a few games are available on the platform. But now, we are hearing great news every day! Right now, both PS4 and Xbox One have enough games at their disposal. A console war is coming, that’s for sure.

2015 is definitely going to be a year of console games for China. But here’s one question: since both console giants have entered the Chinese market, which will benefit the most from this great change?

First, I would say it’s the gamers.

With the support of Chinese gamers, console games used to thrive on the Chinese soil. Even now, big cities like Shanghai and Beijing still boast lots of console users. The problem is that they could only buy contraband consoles and games in the black market. Consumers don’t get any quality assurance and after-sales services. They would even encounter numerous technical problems and inconveniences using simple PSN services.

But since Sony has officially launched its NextGen console in China, Chinese gamers can finally enjoy the services provided by Sony and play tons of games that are about to flood in. These are the things that Chinese gamers have been craving for years. Chinese gamers are literally entering an era of consoles.

Also, this is the first time for console users to have become so important. For instance, Sony made quite a few adjustments last year. They sold parts of their property and closed several stores in Canada. They even sold SOE and quit the PC market to focus on the PS4 sector. The lucrative Chinese market is obviously one of Sony’s main targets. In this case, Chinese gamers will be of huge importance to Sony, therefore gamers would expect better services in the future.

Of course, the developers will benefit a lot as well.

Sony and Microsoft have been spending plenty of money and undying efforts building their own game platform. Both companies are giving developers relatively great support. Currently, gaming giants like Sony often show around in every developer’s party. In the recently held GDC 2015, Sony announced that the sales of PS4 already hit 20 million and that they would continue to provide developers with better support.

The key factor that will decide the winning party in this console war is actually platform. PlayStation and XBOX have their own platforms - PSN for PS and LIVE for XBOX. Under these circumstances, the gaming giants must give developers as much support as possible. They need talented developers to work on their platforms and provide amazing content for consumers. That’s why great indie game titles like Journey and Tokyo Jungle emerged on the PSN platform. We can see from the earliest game roster that the majority of console games are domestically made. PS4 even has King Of Wushu as an exclusive title. Without doubt, Sony is striving to support the developers.

Overall, the game industry will be the biggest winner.

As I’ve mentioned before, China still possesses a great number of console users though online games are the main stream in local market. These gamers are usually in their 30s or 40s and earn high salary, they’ve got to be the ideal consumers. Overseas gaming giants will also bring brand-new game concepts and valuable market operational experiences to China, especially ‘half-way’ gaming companies like Sony. They will make great contribution to the video game market in China.

In Hong Kong, Japan and the US, Sony designs a variety of online and offline activities for its consumers. The Family Reunion Dinner With PlayStation held by Sony signifies the company’s intention to adopt similar strategies in China to attract its users. Clearly, Sony is trying to build a solid and diverse gaming environment for the gamers.

Companies in China have had their eyes on the console game market for a very long time, but they couldn’t step in due to heavy restrictions and bans on video games. And now as the console game industry is starting to revive, many big companies are trying different approaches to enter this market: BesTV and Shanghai Oriental Pearl are cooperating with overseas developers to make consoles and console games. Xiaomi Inc. partners with the U.S. video game service provider Ouya to develop a new console powered by Android for the Chinese market. TCL is also forming a gaming eco-system with many Chinese companies by providing consumers with great gaming content on their TV platforms. Partnership between Konka and Tencent was also announced recently while Skyworth already teamed up with TV Play. Such instances are actually numerous.

It's obvious from such moves that Chinese game developers are eager to crack the console market open, and the revival of console games will finally complete the industry chains of the game industry in China. Console games will certainly become the most important sector in the Chinese game industry. Sony launched its official Chinese version of PS4 on March 20, and is posed to fight a console war with its rival XBOX ONE. Luckily, for the very first time we will have the chance to witness such ‘great war’ in China.

What’s more, the products and game concepts that are being introduced to China by overseas gaming giants have the potential to facilitate a reform within the game industry. We already experienced a year of mobile games in 2013, perhaps it will now be the year of console games. Something is for sure though, that this time, we have every reason to expect more changes and improvements.

(The article is published and edited with authorization from the author @Junshitaibao, please note source and hyperlink when reproduce.)

Translated by Garret Lee(Senior Translator at ECHO), working for TMTpost.