The consumer electronic industry in Pakistan has made immense strides over the past decade. During the first quarter (Q1) of the fiscal year 2018-19, State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) reported a fantastic 7.8% growth.
Over the years, the persistent growth of the electronics industry has attracted the interest of foreign investors. Meanwhile, despite a substantial Pakistani consumer engagement in the gaming world, the country has not been able to attract authorized sales of gaming consoles. The fact that Pakistan is still not on the list of available countries for consoles like Xbox and PlayStation is somewhat abusrd.
If we look at the statistics, Pakistan accounts for more than $25 million in revenue in the gaming industry annually, and is home to 8,000 professionals associated with videogame development. Yet the country has inexplicably flown under the radar for years.
Gamers community is being affected
Since the days of Sony Ericsson mobile phones and Sony box TVs, Pakistan has been a significant user of the conglomerate’s products. Since its arrival in Pakistan, the tech giant has managed to open more than 100 authorized local Sony retail stores.
Currently, Sony is one of the most famous consumer electronics brands in Pakistan, with LED TVs and PlayStations being the best sellers. However, the company has still not considered authorized sales of its gaming consoles in Pakistan.
In order to bring the issue forward, a fraction of Pakistan’s gaming community has taken to change.org, a platform for petitions.
In September 2019, a resident of Lahore, posted a petition stating:
I have been gaming all my life, and since forever we gamers in Pakistan have been ripped off by our local vendors by ridiculous price tags. Pakistan is not among the countries that PlayStation sells officially; however, that still doesn’t stop us Paki gamers from buying expensive gaming consoles and games via unofficial channels.
There is a huge market of gaming in Pakistan, and local vendors here import tons of games every day. Still, PlayStation and Sony are missing out on possibly a lot of revenue because of the expensive price tags that our local vendors put on them. Moreover, we cannot even use Pakistani Bank accounts to make purchases on the PlayStation Store, and that is a huge obstacle for many gamers over here.
Since then, approximately 7000 gamers have signed the petition.
PlayStation Online Store
Additionally, Pakistan is not a part of Sony’s online gaming community either. PlayStations users in Pakistan don’t have an option to choose Pakistan as their home country while signing up. This has not only deterred plenty of gamers but has also been a source of inconvenience for many since they cannot use Pakistan-based bank accounts for their online purchases.
Gamers either have to rely on their relatives/friends living in other countries or even worse; they have to put in fake addresses and IDs to use the online store. Taking advantage of this, gaming vendors are selling PlayStation gift cards at higher prices.
PlayStation is not something recent, it has been around for decades. So the fact that Pakistan’s gaming community cannot choose their home country amongst the vast list of countries available is ridiculous.
If Sony can include countries like Nicaruga, Uruguay and Malta, then why not Pakistan? Pakistan has more gamers than the entire population of Malta.
Sony’s PlayStation is not the only service taking Pakistan into account. Other services like Spotify, Adobe, PayPal, Disney+, and many more still don’t consider Pakistan as a potential market. Although it is way past time they do.
?
Companies like Adobe will not come over Pakistan, until and unless the government controls piracy. People in Pakistan doesn’t even feel hesitate to use pirated softwares.
Over na hau barha aya piracy ke lecture daine piracy pure duniya me hote hai koi Pakistan anokha nahi hai.
Piracy is not the point, USA itself is 2nd most Pirated softwares consumer.
h**ps://resources.flexera.com/web/revulytics/cdn2/2017-software-piracy-heatmap.jpg
O really …???
???
Amazing article! Especially the more gamers than Malta’s population line!
I wish Sony can give one good reason to me that why should I use fake address to make account and buy games indirectly when all can be done legally if PS4 officially comes to Pakistan.
mahnoor ap ne dukhti rag pe haath rakh dia being a ps4 gamer myself i can relate to all of this. to buy digital games we rely on some shady guys in GB gaming groups who sell PSN cards at exorbitantly high prices. i once tried paying through a paypal account (obviously made in a foreign country) but was unable to even add it in my ps4 cuz Sony said i’m in Pakistan. Division 2 was recently on sale for $2 but i had to buy $10 psn card in order order to buy that…that’s our plight !
Console peasants!
Agya wudda PC Mustard Race
No matter who ignores whom, I will never ignore you or your articles ???
Nowhere in the article, you answered the question “Why is Pakistan Neglected by Sony”. It’s about what every gamer (like me) already know for a decade.
Telling this to Google for their phones availability and sony for the play station for years and getting reply we are working on it. What a joke hearing for more than 15 years they are so incompetent to still not sort it. Same is the case with Microsoft all of us in Pakistan are using pirated Windows and related products if they make subscription affordable for users they can earn millions which they are currently getting penny