PS4 launching later in Japan due to lack of Japanese-oriented software line-up

Sony has said it is launching PS4 in Japan later than other countries due to there not being a strong enough Japanese-oriented launch line-up for the region.

Speaking with Eurogamer at TGS 2013, senior Sony executives said the month of February was chosen because the firm expects more games to be ready by then.

"Sony just wants to make sure that when PlayStation 4 launches in Japan there is a good line-up of titles for Japan," the console's lead architect Mark Cerny said. "Perhaps you could say that a few western developers have been more aggressive in readying titles for the hardware."

"A next-generation home console has been a strong request from western developers who were anxious to see such devices," SCE Japan executive Masayasu Ito told the site. "That's why we decided to go ahead with the EU and US launches... because EU and US titles were ready."

There's another side to this as well: the handheld market is gangbusters in Japan and because of this, more developers are focused on portable than home console gaming.

"That's definitely a major factor when we decided where to launch when," said Sony Worldwide Studios boss Shuhei Yoshida. "The readiness from the publisher standpoint, and consumers and the media - everybody was ready. We were constantly told we should release new hardware.

"Compared to that, Japan is completely different. It's more portable-heavy, but the PS3 is catching up. Of course, after we announced PS4 in February, luckily publishers are showing an interest. But it's a completely different picture of readiness compared to Western publishers."

PS4 launched in Europe and North America in November.