Sony has released a new official FAQ that explains the PS4 most relevant ins and outs.
And, there’s one point that mentions the possibility of Region-Locked games…
As translated by Dual Shockers:
Q: Can I use in Japan the game titles and PS4 console released overseas? Conversely, can PS4 titles sold in Japan be used in foreign countries?
A: From the view point of each region’s safety standards and to guarantee operation, please purchase the PS4 console and the games that are sold in your area. There’s the possibility that the titles of some software developers could be region locked. In addition to that, you may no longer eligible for support if you use a an overseas model of the PS4 in Japan.
When asked by fans about this, SCE Worldwide Studios President Shuhei Yoshida said the following on Twitter:
In the twitter exchange above Yoshida-san is asked “wasn’t the PS4 region free?” When he doesn’t understand the question, he’s shown the url of the FAQ I translated above, and responds “That doesn’t deny that it’s region free at all”.
That means the console itself is region-free, but some games may be region locked.
So, we could be looking at a situation similar to the PS3. As you may remember, Persona 4: Arena was region-locked on Sony’s console, causing European gamers to have to wait for it for a rather relevant amount of time.
There you have it. It’s again up to devs if they want to region lock their games or not.
