The rupee’s depreciation will lead to a hike in the prices of Sony Playstation games. Sony Computer Entertainment, the maker of games such as PSP and PS3, which imports its full range, is evaluating a round of price hikes for its high-end models such as the PS3 and its hand-held counterpart, PSP. However, a price hike would not be taken on the PS2 entry model, currently retailing at Rs 6,990.
Atindriya Bose, Country Manager, Sony Computer Entertainment, said, “While we would be holding on to prices for our entry level home console of PS2, the rest of the portfolio comprising PSP and PS3 would go up by 5-7 per cent.” The exchange rate changes had forced the company to raise prices by 3-5 per cent last August.
“We have tried to keep the price increase as low as possible last year, but now we will be forced to increase prices once again,” added Bose.
The existing high tax incidence in the segment was adding to the exchange rate fluctuation, the company said. As Bose said, “While we may have the capacity to absorb some amount of import duties, there are additional taxes such as VAT, which leads to taxes going up to 35 per cent.”
Considering the high tax structure for gaming consoles, it has decided to locally manufacture its software or gaming CDs used in its hardware. Software for its PS3 model is now locally manufactured at its facilities in Mhape, a suburb of Mumbai.
“We have managed to bring down prices and can now roll out software which is less than Rs 1,000,” Bose said. Sony has been able to bring down prices for almost 40 titles of its `India specific’ playstation gaming CDs from its original pricing at Rs 2,699 to between Rs 999 and Rs 1,200.
Localising content by associating with Bollywood and cricket has also helped in getting volumes. “Today, we have nearly 15 India-specific games created by Indian developers and have built content from movies such as Ra.One and Don 2 ,” said Bose.
Sony Computer Entertainment launched Playstation in 2007 and has bagged a majority share of almost 80 per cent in the Rs 750-crore gaming console category. It sole competitor is X Box from Microsoft.
The company plans to launch PS4 towards the end of the year, but is cautious about declaring its exact price due to the changes in forex rates. PS4 is expected to be at a significant premium to PS3 which currently retails at Rs 22,990.