Despite the fact that China has lifted its blanket ban on foreign video game consoles, companies still need to go through a rigorous approval process if they want to sell their products in the country. While Microsoft has already managed to launch their new Xbox One console in China, Sony hasn’t been so lucky with the PlayStation 4. In fact, the launch of the PS4 and the PS Vita in China has been postponed indefinitely due to prolonged negotiations with Chinese regulators.
Sony today announced it will delay sales of the Playstation 4 in China indefinitely, according to Reuters. The game console along with the handheld PS Vita were slated to launch on January 11, but is postponed because of “various factors,” a statement from Sony said today. A new sale date has not been confirmed. An unnamed source from Sony in China told Reuters that negotiations with Chinese authorities were prolonged, causing the delay. Sony’s planned launch lineup for China seemed fairly vanilla – non-offensive games certain to get through the Ministry of Culture’s approval board. We even lambasted it for not including bestselling titles like The Last of Us, Infamous, and Uncharted. But perhaps the censors caught a whiff of dissidence while playing LittleBigPlanet 3. Microsoft’s Xbox One became the first game console in 14 years to be sold in China in September.