ORIGINAL STORY (4 Nov – 9:38 PM): As noted in our report last month, it seems quite likely that the PlayStation 5 will not be released in Malaysia anytime soon. In fact, Singapore is the only country in Southeast Asia that has received the official release date and pricing for the new console in addition to two rounds of pre-orders. Naturally, many gamers throughout the region are irked by this which is seen by them as bias towards Singapore that is home to the regional headquarters for SIE in Southeast Asia. However, today’s announcement of the PlayStation 5 Asia Celebration event seemed to escalate the fury further. Scheduled to take place online on 11 November, the PlayStation 5 Asia Celebration includes several quests that offer the opportunity for gamers throughout the region to win prizes with the grand prize being a PS5. However, many gamers immediately noticed that Singaporean gamers are the only ones in Southeast Asia that were able to win the PS5 as well as the majority of other prizes in the list: As shown above, other gamers within Southeast Asia are only eligible to win a theme for their PS4 which doesn’t look good for an event that is being called as “Asia Celebration”. Not surprisingly, many of them have since expressed their frustration through PlayStation Asia’s Facebook page. Some have even suggested PlayStation Asia change its name to PlayStation Singapore instead:
Despite being the home to the only PlayStation Worldwide Studios division within Southeast Asia and the host of the first-ever PlayStation Experience outside of the United States, it is quite clear that there is no preferential treatment for Malaysia when it comes to PS5. Truth to be told though, there are many possible reasons for SIE to not announce the release details for PS5 in markets outside of Singapore. They could range from stock limitations to logistic difficulties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic to paperwork and tax complexities in respective markets but of course, these are not something that would be discussed in public. Additionally, we already know that the PS5 will eventually be released in our market given its appearance on PlayStation’s Malaysian website. Nevertheless, it is quite obvious local gamers would be able to put their mind at ease until SIE finally clarifies the status of PS5’s release in Malaysia. Hopefully, that will take place sooner rather than later.
