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[cormack12]

When God of War Ragnarök launched on Steam in September, over 80% of the English language reviews were positive. However, 65% of the Chinese language reviews were negative, with CN accounting for 20% of total reviews.

So why did this happen?

The simple answer is that Chinese players have increased expectations and felt let down by Sony's efforts in the region.

1. The game did not have a Chinese audio dub
2. The game did not incorporate regional pricing
3. The game requires a PSN account

Let's break this down:

1. Many AAA / AA games have started adding Chinese voices to PC games. Many players appreciate the increased effort and praise developers that include it.

The reviews note that Sony has included options like Polish and German voices, but not Chinese despite the number of CN speakers

2. Regional pricing is a must for any developer releasing a game on Steam, and Sony has not done this for Ragnarok.

The game is priced at RMB 398 which is essentially $60.

For reference, Black Myth: Wukong released on PC day 1 and was priced at RMB 268 ($35), inline with expectations.

 

[XXL]

If you're going to release on Steam, you should definitely have Chinese language options.

Almost 40% of all Steam users have their language set to Simplified Chinese.

 

[Bernoulli]

with ai it should be easier and cheaper to get audio dub with the same expressions as the original

 

[Hrk69]

with ai it should be easier and cheaper to get audio dub with the same expressions as the original

Give it some time. This is going to be the standard.

 

[Magic Carpet]

Don't forget the Russians. they review games too.
I don't know if they buy them, but they do review them, and harshly.

 

[ReyBrujo]

This is exacerbated by the fact that Steam Community is blocked in China

Wait, how can the forums be blocked but the service works. Who blocks it, the authorities or Steam?

 

[Gaiff]

Don't forget the Russians. they review games too.
I don't know if they buy them, but they do review them, and harshly.

Be honest, you made that post solely for that joke.

 

[Magic Carpet]

Be honest, you made that post solely for that joke.

Maybe

 

[BennyBlanco]

Don't forget the Russians. they review games too.
I don't know if they buy them, but they do review them, and harshly.

You can’t review a game you didn’t buy

 

[Gaiff]

You can’t review a game you didn’t buy

You can in Soviet Russia.

 

[Cyberpunkd]

If you're going to release on Steam, you should definitely have Chinese language options.

Almost 40% of all Steam users have their language set to Simplified Chinese.

Mind you, this is 100% oversight, but I will pretend it’s because Sony doesn’t care about authoritarian genocidal regime.

 

[Cyberpunkd]

Don't forget the Russians. they review games too.
I don't know if they buy them, but they do review them, and harshly.

See the pattern here?

 

[Bernoulli]

Give it some time. This is going to be the standard.

it's already in use and works well but not in games

 

[S0ULZB0URNE]

Obviously a untapped market exists in that region.
No reason for it not to be a thing already.

 

[nial]

If you're going to release on Steam, you should definitely have Chinese language options.

Almost 40% of all Steam users have their language set to Simplified Chinese.

Mind you, this is 100% oversight, but I will pretend it’s because Sony doesn’t care about authoritarian genocidal regime.

Huh, Sony games DO have Simplified Chinese localization, what people are complaining here is about the lack of a Chinese dub.

 

[LectureMaster]

I'm surprised that he has a pretty good grip of the Chinese player consensus. After all his alias is ZhugeEx I guess.

Regional price is the key. Pretty much all big publishers are doing it except Sony and some SE titles. You can't expect Chinese to be happy when Wukong is equivalent $35 while Spider man 2 cost equivalent $70.

 

[Cakeboxer]

"I'd like to talk about one factor that may limit sales"

I think the biggest issue is no marketing whatsoever. I don't know any numbers, but i bet marketing + bundles are responsible for lots of sales on PlayStation. While you can't have bundles on pc (unless it's a graphics cards or cpu giveaway), Sony could at least save some of the console marketing budget for pc.

 

[Fake]

Agree. They are doing much better for gaming than France and we still have french language.

 

[Nankatsu]

He is not wrong at all.

 

[Darkness_Arises]

When God of War Ragnarök launched on Steam in September, over 80% of the English language reviews were positive. However, 65% of the Chinese language reviews were negative, with CN accounting for 20% of total reviews.

So why did this happen?

The simple answer is that Chinese players have increased expectations and felt let down by Sony's efforts in the region.

1. The game did not have a Chinese audio dub
2. The game did not incorporate regional pricing
3. The game requires a PSN account

Let's break this down:

1. Many AAA / AA games have started adding Chinese voices to PC games. Many players appreciate the increased effort and praise developers that include it.

The reviews note that Sony has included options like Polish and German voices, but not Chinese despite the number of CN speakers

2. Regional pricing is a must for any developer releasing a game on Steam, and Sony has not done this for Ragnarok.

The game is priced at RMB 398 which is essentially $60.

For reference, Black Myth: Wukong released on PC day 1 and was priced at RMB 268 ($35), inline with expectations.

No established AAA publisher subsidizes regional pricing on Steam. I bought Metaphor Refantazio for 5699 INR (~70US$) more than what Raganarok is being sold for.

 

[Fahdis]

Ya'll can buy Sony games on Steam?