Cognition Dissemination: Does Sony Computer Entertainment of America Not Care About Gravity Rush?

It’s easy to get the impression that Sony Computer Entertainment of America doesn’t care about the Gravity Rush franchise nearly as much as their Japanese and European counterparts. The original Vita version apparently sold best in Japan, where it released shortly after the system’s launch in February 2012. Though it was originally planned to release simultaneously in western territories, it was delayed until June 2012, seemingly solely because Sony needed something for Vita’s barren software lineup later in the year. This unfortunately harmed it, since it was the kind of game gaming types would have purchased at launch, to convince themselves the system was worth purchasing early on after getting caught in the hype.

But now that it’s being ported to PS4 as Gravity Rush Remastered, announced at Tokyo Game Show in September, you’d think the American district would give it more attention. After all, there are still plenty of (admittedly justifiable) complaints concerning the lack of exclusives for PS4, two years after its launch. Both the remastered title and especially the also-confirmed Gravity Rush 2 could help sell people on the console (along with other software). But based on their actions, one company seems to disagree.

Though Remastered and GR2 were confirmed simultaneously for Japan and subsequently Europe, only the latter was confirmed for America, strangely enough. They weren’t going to skip releasing it here, but it was a strange occurrence for an announcement that felt so ostensibly effortless. It took until Paris Games Week for SCEA to come around, which could have been the plan all along despite fans pestering them over social media, as curious of a decision it was. But there’s another catch that helps justify the point raised in the title: Despite Remastered receiving a disc release Japan and Europe, it’s coming only through PlayStation Network here. That hurts, despite the generous $29.99 price.

That PS4 is region-free dulls the pain a little for anyone who likes physical copies, since it can be imported from stores that sell European and — assuming Play-Asia is accurate — Asian copies. But every region should receive the same benefits.

What I’m most perplexed about is why SCEA apparently gives less of a crap than the other districts. The franchise is no longer on Vita, so that’s no excuse. So perhaps the franchise’s inspiration is part of it. Gravity Rush’s art style is inspired by Bande Dessinée/Franco-Belgian comics style that achieved popularity in European territories long ago. Despite that, its style still contains enough anime-centric quirks to appeal to Japanese audiences, or those who like Japanese art. Considering those, it has the least selling potential in America. But that shouldn’t stop them from trying, especially when it could be marketed as yet another open world title.

This could also be an issue with SCEA favoring the digital market through PSN more than other subsidiaries, since Gravity Rush isn’t the only culprit here. Take Bloodborne: The Old Hunters, an expansion for Bloodborne receiving a retail release in Japan and Europe. Again, that won’t be the case in America, where it’s only coming separately or through a digital package.

People have good reasons for desiring to keep their game collections mostly physical for dedicated platforms, and for a good example why, examine the actions of Sony themselves. When PlayStation Mobile was shut down earlier this year, they went beyond simply removing the apps from their storefront: They also removed the option to re-download purchased apps after September 10th. If you paid for an app and didn’t download it, that’s too bad. If this sounds familiar, it also previously occurred with the PSP’s Comic Store. God forbid you lose your device, and have to re-download content after moving your account to another one.

There’s a realistic chance of that happening with digital games on PSN in the future, starting with the PSP’s store. You’d better hope Sony provides some other means to back digital products up for some services (PSP still has MediaGo — for now), though DRM will still be applied.

This initiative isn’t worth giving up on, since a big and civil fan campaign could change Sony’s mind. For instance, Sony Computer Entertainment of Europe was ready to release Freedom Wars for Vita only through PSN, but eventually changed their minds once they realized a sizable number of their dedicated fans wanted a physical copy. SCEA could do the same thing; and even if they don’t, perhaps they can be convinced to at least print a limited amount of physical copies to assuage the seemingly-small amount of fans who want this.

We’ll probably never know the real reason why SCEA seems to care less about Gravity Rush, but they should throw fans a bone here, despite some interstitial ungratefulness.