Why the News About the Japan and Asia Regions Is Ultimately A Good Thing
by ted2112, HSM team writer
If we take a moment, step back and look at the big picture, we can see a very interesting thing. Sony announced that the Asia and Japan regions will no longer be producing new content; yeah, we all know that by now, but this is a huge action to take by Sony — and if we really look at it, this announcement also tells us something else huge as well.
We are a success!
Before I start, let me divert for a second and say how sorry I am for the Asia and Japan regions. I know you are a passionate fan base and I am very sorry that Home never caught fire there the way it did in both the NA and EU regions. I am happy you can still go there and enjoy Home, and even though I’m not supposed to say this, the door is always open here. Come on by; you are welcome.
Okay: back to why the news this week is good news for the rest of us. It is obvious from this action that Sony isn’t simply throwing in the towel on Home. Quite to the contrary, they are in fact reinvesting in Home. They looked at a diverse community and decided to keep this crazy thing we call Home open, but by doing that it meant trimming the fat. The Asia and Japan regions didn’t make any money. The EU and NA regions do. It is as simple as that. You can’t close Home in its entirety just because of a couple of failing regions. Also, we need to consider the fact that the PS4 will be region free. This is a evolutionary gaming progression that will be at the core to gaming philosophy for an entire generation.
Allow me a quick analogy. The professional baseball team: the Montreal Expos, despite being a good baseball team, didn’t do well economically. Nobody bought their game tickets or merchandise, and the team as a business model was a failure. Major League Baseball didn’t shut down the rest of baseball because of this; they instead closed down the team where they were and diverted those resources elsewhere. To the people who loved the Expos, this was hard to take and difficult to see the big picture; but today the Expos are the Washington Nationals. The organization has completely turned itself around and is still doing what they do, just in a different region. This is exactly what is happening in Home.
As painful as stopping new content to the non-successful parts of Home is, it will only narrow the focus of Home and make it much stronger and healthier in general. If we want Home to last and enjoy it in the future, this is a sad and not necessarily surprising step. Content in these regions has slowed to a trickle recently (even with SCEAsia’s relaxed localization requirements) and we can’t expect the successful regions to survive long-term if Sony has to keep throwing money at them. In fact now that Sony doesn’t have to keep subsidizing the Asia and Japan regions we should see a surge in priority and resources in the EU and NA regions.
The flip side of this content stop also tells us we are doing things right. For those of us in the NA and EU regions, Sony is not giving up on us because we are successful — not only as a community, but as a business. In a time where Sony’s focus is on the new PS4 and the platform landscape is changing, they are taking steps to shore up Home. They don’t have to do this, yet they are choosing this course, because after all they are a business and business in our regions of Home is good. They are looking at what is working and what’s not. We are working.
I know this is of little consequence to our Asia and Japan friends, and I wish things could be different, but I’m not the one calling the shots.
In this time of change here on Home, we must keep doing what we do. We have been told our regions are robust, so let’s pause, reflect and move on. We are a truly amazing collection of gamers and I have a feeling we will see our ranks swell with new players from these other regions that are stopping new content. If we want Home to last, all we have to do is simply keep on keeping on. I am one of those believers that Home will continue as long as we still care enough to participate. Whether it is on the PS4 or 5 or 6, I feel as long as we have a thriving community here, Home will be here for us.
It is only when the streets of Home are empty, like we have seen in other regions, that Home will come to pass, but until then we are here, we are strong and we’re staying. It is only natural to take this news with a bit of sadness, but we also need to acknowledge the things we have done right: we built an amazing community of truly great gamers.
September 1st, 2013 by ted2112 | 7 comments
ted2112 is a writer and a Bass player that has been both inspired and takes to heart Kurt Vonnegut words...."we are here on planet Earth to fart around, and don't let anyone tell you different."
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Why why you had to bring the Expo in that! I grew up by that stadium you know.
I usually try to look at the bright side of things. Just make life easier. But I don’t wear pink glasses. What’s happening to these region is certainly not a sign of long term commitement from Sony. I still think Home will be up and running for quite a while in NA. Yes we can say “we did it” as a community. But the news “brang me back to earth”.
For those who still think Home would be ported to the PS4, it should be a wake up call. Let’s just hope Sony is hiding an ace somewhere. I’ll be surprised they don’t have another VR/MMO project for the PS4 down the line.
In the mean time I’ll be enjoying what we have.
I have bots to kill, treasures to dig for and the list goes on.
… and that Data. Still not look quite right!
Good point Ted. Trimming the fat as you said is probably a good sign of commitment on Sony’s part. You always seem to find a different way to look at things, and I think that you are right on this one.
The fact that all of this outcry is happening should show how concerned and therefore invested people are in Home. In a way people being upset by this the way they are is a thermometer for Sony to gauge reaction and know what kind of commitment we as a community have for Home. Nice article.
Great Article and many good points. I read and reread that press release and the word that kept jumping out at me was “vibrant”as they were referring to Home Europe and North America. That is a mighty shiny happy word for Sony to use, I was really surprised by that.
The other big thing is the no regions policy on the PS4. I predict that Home Europe and North America at some point will merge in the future creating just 1 large region.
Some people will hear this news and see only bad things, some people will see positive things (you)I think its just what kind of person you are. But you can’t ignore that our regions are doing well with new content coming every week.
Great article, but too bad it’s not coming from the horses mouth…that being said just because we weren’t the first to go doesn’t mean we’re not going.
What’s with the big secrecy on Sonys end. Your analogy to other businesses that clean house to get there house in order is understandable, but at least they are accountable to there employees and stock holders. Mums the word on Sonys end. Honestly it all looks suspicious. If everything is so honky dorky why can’t Sony make some kind of public statement to the fact that all is well on the “Home” front. Given the recent atmosphere they owe us some sort of announcement. By the launch date of the PS4 something publicly should be announced rather good are bad. Why would a company continue to alienate their base customer? I just don’t get it! If I were Sony I would be communicating with the consumer even if it never sees the light of day on the PS4 it would be nice to know that it’s existence would survive as long as there is a PS3 and the community supports it. I agree with your article and it all sounds logical but it would sure make me feel a lot better if it were coming from Sony instead some blogger(no disrespect). Great article.
Great article and good points. I do feel bad for those regions, but even with no new content it seems they r remaining open I think? I hope the NA and Europe regions continue to thrive and we can enjoy Home for many more years! Nobody knows the future of Home but hopefully Sony will clue us in sometime soon! Until then, lets all enjoy Home and all it has to offer!! Love all the positive!
Nice article but the regions are run as 4 separate entities and these two regions have decided to play they hand on what they are doing with home now. In essence those regions have trimmed the fat by getting rid of updates on home. The other two haven’t played they hands yet if this article was official I would be happy but until the other two regions show they cards it’s going to effect the way me and many users use home. Now if the information is slow in coming and this causes a self fulfilling prophecy then who’s fault is that.
Easy solution. NA has almost no public spaces or rewards anymore. Japan seems to be the favorite thing for these glitchers or whatever to I guess “port” japan items to NA. If japan was brought to NA, they would both make money. Honestly, Id love to buy some japanese stuff, like the monster hunter items.