Sony Japan Embraces Their Western Franchises At TGS

Sony will publish God of War III in Japan. So what? God of War is a first party game, you say. True, but Sony has never published a God of War game in Japan. Capcom handled Kratos from the first game to Chains of Olympus.

During the PlayStation 2 period, Sony Computer Entertainment Japan passed on publishing their more violent Western developed games. God of War was entrusted to Capcom, which also handled the CERO Z rated Grand Theft Auto titles. Sega (really, Sega) picked up The Getaway: Black Monday and Killzone. Other first party titles like Twisted Metal: Black were never released.

When the PlayStation 3 launched SCEJ changed their strategy and directly handled Resistance: Fall of Man. They also published Killzone 2. Now, at Tokyo Game Show ‘09 the majority of their first party PS3 games are from the West.

PlayStation 3
Gran Turismo 5 (SCEJ)
The Last Guardian (SCEJ)
Uncharted 2
God of War III
Heavy Rain
Infamous (currently unreleased in Japan)
Ratchet and Clank: A Crack in Time

PlayStation Network
Fat Princess
Gravity Crush
Hustle Kings

Meanwhile, Sony Computer Entertainment America handles games developed in Japan similar to what SCEJ did during the PS2 era. Atlus, a third party publisher, will release Demon Souls in October. NIS America brought Blade Dancer and Holy Invasion of Privacy, Badman to the West. Agetec and Xseed had a hand in Wild ARMs. Few Ape Escape games get localized and we haven’t seen a single SCEJ funded Bleach game yet.launch.