Sony Invades India
4th December, 2007
Realising the enormous scope of the potential market in India, the world’s biggest name in technology is now aiming to start penetrating the market and taking advantage of all those attractive possibilities.
Sony Online Entertainment is going to develop games in Mumbai with local content and local partner, which demonstrates the extreme product adaptation strategy Sony has chosen in this case. It could be due to the specifics of Indian culture, which would be less likely to accept the standardised globalised games that are extremely popular within the EU and US.
At the moment the company is still in the research process and is busy dealing with developers. According to the Sony’s business development and international operations vice president, David Christensen, the studio is scheduled to be set up by the first few months of 2008, in Bangalore.
When giving a speech in Mumbai, India’s finance and entertainment hub, Christensen expressed the company’s need for local partners. “We need to have Indian content for our games, and we are looking for local partners," he said.
Companies that decide to adopt their products to specifics of the foreign culture usually seek out some sort of local help. It saves time, money and reduces the risks associated with such move.
Sony has just started working with Virgin on their new game, which is based on the famous comic book “Ramayan 3329”, which was in terms inspired by the popular Indian epic about war with demons.
Indian online gaming market is still fairly immature and undeveloped, with around 2.8 million devotes in total.
