Sony PlayStation 4 To Be Released In China Next Month, Priced At $469

Sony is set to release its PlayStation 4 gaming console in China next month, following rival console manufacturer Microsoft into the country after the latter launched its eighth-generation Xbox One there in late September. The launch will mark Sony's entry into China's gaming market.

The Tokyo-based technology company, which has been dealing with serious cybersecurity breaches at its Sony Pictures Entertainment arm, will start selling the PlayStation 4 from Jan. 11 with a price tag of 2,899 yuan ($469), it announced in a statement Thursday, adding that the hand-held PlayStation Vita will also go on sale at the same time at 1,299 yuan ($210).

According to a filing earlier this year on the Shanghai free-trade zone website, Sony is expected to start packaging the new consoles for the Chinese market sometime this month, with a goal to package 200,000 consoles annually, Bloomberg reported.

Sony will partner with more than 70 third-party software developers and publishers to deliver game titles on the PlayStation 4 for Chinese gamers. This will include 26 from China, 21 from Asia, and another 25 from Europe and North America.

“Sony will try its best to offer Chinese customers a PlayStation consistent with its global offerings, and compliant with government regulations,” Takehito Soeda, who heads Sony’s China Strategy Department for the PlayStation business, was quoted by Bloomberg, as saying.

Since the PS4's release last year, the company has sold 16.1 million units, compared with 9.1 million and 7.9 million for the XBox One and Nintendo’s Wii U, respectively, according to data from VGChartz, a website that tracks videogame sales.

Here are the specifications of the PlayStation 4 for the Chinese consumers: