PlayStation is Coming to China

Look at the 'made in' sticker on a PlayStation console and it'll probably say China no matter where you are in the world but despite being produced in the world's most populous country, you haven't been able to buy one there, until now. 

Starting later this year Sony and the Shanghai Oriental Pearl Group Co Ltd will sell PlayStation games and consoles in the Asian country, a filing with the Shanghai Stock Exchange has revealed.  

The joint company will be a subsidiary of Shanghai Oriental Pearl and Sony's Chinese division which will operate out of the Shanghai Free Trade area. 

PlayStation and other consoles had been banned in China but are now permitted for sale in the Shanghai trade zone. This has led to a large console black market but gaming in the country is dominated by mobile and PC with free-to-play games proving particularly popular. 

Sony's decision comes a month after Microsoft and its joint-venture partner BesTV New Media Co Ltd announced that Xbox systems will be sold in China from September. 

China outlawed consoles in 2000 alleging that they could have harmful mental health effects but the Shanghai regional government ruled in April that console manufacturers could sell systems in the free trade zone through "foreign-invested enterprises" after temporarily removing the ban in January.