News of China opening up to selling consoles has drawn interesting responses. While Nintendo’s stocks seem to have jumped in response, neither Sony or Nintendo seem interested in jumping onto the opportunity, at least right now.
First off, on Nintendo’s end, their shares jumped 7.5 percent, to a high for the last two and a half years, after the announcement of this news. However, it is just as likely Nintendo benefited from a weaker yen, as the Topix (Tokyo stock exchange Nintendo is in) also saw a surge in reaction. Nintendo simply stated that they are looking into the situation in the region, but declined to comment further.
Sony was equivocal about not entering the market. They indicated that they have no concrete plans to do so, even as they recognize its potential. Perhaps downplaying information we received from an earlier source, a Microsoft spokeswoman has stated they have nothing to reveal about future products they would be offering in China.
Yesterday, I opined that these companies may be waiting on the State Council to finalize these rules. Analysts believe they may be hesitating to deal with the state bureaucracy, and are also shooed away by the FUD surrounding what conditions and requirements the state will enforce.
Other factors include the fact that PC gaming (predominantly F2P and from Chinese developers) is already a huge business in the country, and the market’s exposure to consoles has been minimal. Price may also be an issue, as even among the burgeoning middle class in China, most gamers make less than $ 660 a month. That really isn’t that much far off from the cost of an Xbox One.
Here and now, the primary gaming markets, in US, Europe, and Japan, are the primary concern of the gaming industry. Whether they enter China, and how they choose to do so, will be a topic broached perhaps in a year or two.
