PlayStation 4 to hit Indian shores on Jan 6; priced at ₹39,990

Japanese technology giant Sony on Wednesday said the latest edition of its popular gaming console, PlayStation4, would be available in India from January 6 for ₹39,990.

'After a successful launch across the US and European markets, we are putting in all our energy to introduce the PS4 to Indian consumers. India launch is happening ahead of introduction in the Japanese market, which speaks about our commitment to the market here,' PlayStation India Country Head Atindriya Bose told PTI.

The PS4 was released in US in November for $ 399 and more than 2.1 million units of the console have already been sold.

PS4 competes with Microsoft's Xbox One, which is priced $ 100 higher. No announcements on its availability in India have been made yet.

PlayStation has a big fan following in India with an estimated userbase of about 1.8 million users across PS2, PS3 and PSPs.

'Though I can't share exact sales targets, but we are confident of showing similar numbers as PS3 in the third year (of its sales),' Bose said.

On pricing, he said the cost may appear steep but tax rates alone constitute 35-38 %.

The gaming market in the country is in the nascent stage, with mobile games accounting for the lion's share. The Indian gaming console market is estimated to be worth ₹750 crore and Sony claims to have over 70 % share.

He added that there are about 6-7 million regular gamers, who don't own a console but access these devices at other places like a friends' house.

'These are the low hanging fruits for us...With the introduction of PS4, we expect our (market) share to grow. But the challenge is also to grow the market at the same time,' Bose said.

The PS4 console would not include any pre-bundled games, but gaming enthusiasts can choose from a library of over 20 first and third-party games, including titles like Knack and Killzone: Shadow Fall, priced ₹2,500 onwards.

The PS4 system would include a DualShock4 wireless controller and integrates second screens, including the PlayStation Vita system (PS Vita), smartphones and tablets to connect gamers to the PlayStation ecosystem wherever they are.

Sony said the PlayStation camera will be retailed at ₹4,990, while an additional PS4 controller would be available at ₹4,990.

The PS 4 is powered by an eight-core AMD Jaguar CPU and features 500GB hard drive, 8GB of unified memory and built-in Blu Ray drive. It also features WiFi connectivity option, an Ethernet port, Bluetooth and two USB ports.