PlayStation Hero Projects

The PlayStation Hero Projects are initiatives launched by Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) that provide financial support and mentorship to video game developers from underrepresented regions, helping them bring their games to a global audience. The project started in 2016 in China and has since expanded to India, the Middle East and North Africa.

History

China Hero Project

After China partially lifted its ban on gaming consoles in January 2014, SIE launched the PlayStation 4 in the country in March 2015. However, the company struggled to gain a foothold in the Chinese market due to its decade-long absence and a user base that differed significantly from overseas markets. To address this, SIE laid out three policies at the 2016 PlayStation China Press Conference in Shanghai: "1) localizing excellent overseas titles and promoting community activities, 2) enhancing domestic Chinese titles, and 3) improving game development capabilities in China by promoting the China Hero Project." It was further explained that the project's goal was to support Chinese development studios in creating games for home consoles and bringing them to the global market, with backing from development tool providers, such as CRI Middleware and Silicon Studio. An initial example was also presented: Project Boundary, a multiplayer first-person shooter set in outer space. Further applications could be submitted starting on August 15, 2016. In March 2017, SIE presented the ten games, out of over 400 applications, that were accepted for the China Hero Project (Chinese: 中国之星计划; lit. 'China's star plan'). On March 7, 2019, SIE announced the second phase of the China Hero Project, which included 7 new titles.