Sony PlayStation takes the mass route

Sony PlayStation (PS) has 80 per cent share in the Indian game console market. Sounds good, but Sony isn’t celebrating – yet. That’s because the market is still tiny (India has 2 per cent video game penetration), comprising only the upper layer of the SEC audience. This is in sharp contrast to the 60-70 per cent penetration in markets like the UK.

So Sony PS now wants to go mass with a vengeance with localised content that appeals to the broader audience. As a beginning, it has teamed up with Ra.One, Shahrukh Khan’s much anticipated sci-fi movie slated to release this September.

Atindriya Bose, country manger-India, Sony PS, says, Sony will develop a video game, called ’Ra.One- The Game.’ “We have developed a full cycle console game which offers more than 20 game play environments,” he says. The total cost of development and promotion of the game is over $ 1 million.

The game, whose story line has been written by Khan himself, will be launched in co-ordination with the actual film release. The game will be available in two formats — PS2 platform as a DVD based game and PS3 as a digital download from PlayStation Network (PSN). “We are likely to introduce the PS2 game at Rs 499 with an objective to broad base our market. However, the price point of the PSN download based PS3 format is yet to be decided”, adds Bose. Normally downloads from PSN cost Rs 500 to Rs 2000. Apart from India, Sony will launch the game in Europe, West Asia and Australia and plans to sell 100,000 odd units of the game by June next year.

Apart from heavy promotion (some of it will involve the superstar himself), Sony PS will make sure that the game is available across 2000 retail outlets in the country.

Bose says Sony is also exploring similar opportunities to expand the market . The Indian game console market is estimated at Rs 500 crore, growing at a CAGR of 35 per cent. Sony PS sells roughly around 350,000 units in India every year. The company believes that games supported by strong intellectual property IP and heavy advertisement will sell 10 times more than the number of similar other popular game franchise on PS formats. Sony PS expects to double its volume turnover in India in the next three years.

Working on this strategy, Sony has already published 10 Indian content based games in partnership with local game development studios over last two-three years. The range of games include interesting themes like Desi Adda, Street Cricket, Cart Kings (cart racing game) and Tinkle comics’ popular characters like Suppandi and Shikari Shambu.