On July 31, 2025, Sony Interactive Entertainment (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Sony Interactive Entertainment") held a press conference on the "China Star Plan" in Shanghai today, officially announcing the launch of the fourth phase of the plan.Compared with the first three phases, the fourth phase has achieved a comprehensive upgrade in support: on the basis of continuing all-round support, we will increase investment and provide stronger guarantees and support for each selected project; at the same time, we will actively introduce more strategic partners to expand the global network and provide developers with more targeted professional services.At the press conference, many important progress of the "China Star Plan" was disclosed simultaneously, including additional investment in the third period of the key games "Daba: Water Trace Land" and "Dark Threshold"; "Infinite Air Force" and "Dark Night Dream" have been launched in the national version in 2025; "Lost Souls" will be launched globally on August 29, showing the phased achievements of the "China Star Plan" to help domestic games go global.
The 2025 "China Star Plan" press conference was a complete success
Since its launch in 2016, the "China Star Project" has attracted attention from all walks of life.This press conference brought together leaders of various departments, special guests, and representatives of many Chinese game producers and partners.
At the meeting, Sean Kelly, leader of the "China Star Project" and general manager of Sony Interactive Entertainment's China Software Division, welcomed the guests and extended his sincere gratitude to all developers and partners."We are delighted to witness a large number of excellent Chinese development teams making their mark through this platform, and these works have gradually gained attention and recognition from players and the industry in the market," said Sean Kelly.
Sean Kelly, general manager of Sony Interactive Entertainment China Software Division, delivered a speech
Hideaki Nishino, president and CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment, and Hermen Hulst, CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment Studios Business Group, expressed their concern for the progress of the "China Star Project" and their eager expectations for the future through video.
Hideaki Nishino, President and CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment, delivered a video speech
Hermen Hulst, CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment Studios Business Group, delivered a video speech
Daxiong Jiangkou, Chairman and President of Sony Interactive Entertainment (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., mentioned: "China has the largest number of game users in the world and is also one of the most important markets in PlayStation in the world. Over the past decade, PlayStation has been actively promoting localization. In the future, we will also adhere to our commitment to China and continue to strongly support the Chinese game development team to better meet the needs of players."
Chairman and President of Sony Interactive Entertainment (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., Taxiong Eguchi delivered a speech
The fourth phase officially started and supports comprehensive upgrades
At the press conference, Jiangkou Daxiong, Chairman and President of Sony Interactive Entertainment (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., Sean Kelly, General Manager of Sony Interactive Entertainment China Software Business Department, and Bao Bo, Game Production Director of Sony Interactive Entertainment (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., took the stage together. Amid the on-site countdown and the expectations of the guests, they jointly announced that the fourth phase of the "China Star Plan" was officially launched, and the registration channel was opened today.
The fourth phase of the "China Star Plan" was officially launched
At the launch ceremony, Bao Bo introduced in detail the core upgrade content of the fourth phase of the "China Star Plan".This issue plans to further increase investment on the basis of continuing the full support of game development, distribution, marketing promotion and other comprehensive support to ensure that all selected projects can receive sufficient resource support.At the same time, the partner system has also ushered in an important upgrade: not only continue to deepen cooperation with long-term partners such as Digital Hearts, Sound Machine, PlayStation Studios International Production, but also introduce new partners including Virtuos, RichTap, AAC Technology's RichTap, and PlayStation Studios Creative Arts to jointly build a more complete support system.Upgraded resource support includes but is not limited to Virtuos' early code review and development support, RichTap's professional haptic feedback technology, PlayStation Studios Creative Arts' UI/UX design evaluation, etc.This upgrade marks a new stage of support provided by the "China Star Plan" for domestic game projects toward a more comprehensive and mature stage.
Bao Bo, game production director of Sony Interactive Entertainment (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., announced details of the fourth phase of China Star Plan
Additional investment in key projects, progress of a number of works announced
At the scene, Sony Interactive Entertainment announced that many projects selected in the early stage of the "China Star Plan" are progressing steadily. At the same time, the third selected game works "Daba: Water Trace Land" and "Danda Threshold" will receive further capital investment to help them accelerate development progress and improve quality, and strive to meet with players around the world as soon as possible.In addition, the national versions of "Infinite Air Force" and "Dream of the Dark Night" have been launched in 2025."Lost Souls" will also be launched on PS5 and PC platforms globally on August 29.
"Daba: Water Trace Land" and "Dandel Limits" have received funding support for the "China Star Program" game development after years of deep cultivation, the "China Star Program" has gradually built a Chinese game incubation ecosystem for the global market.Looking ahead, Sony Interactive Entertainment will continue to unite local game developers, technical partners and the industry's strength, uphold PlayStation's brand spirit of "playing without limits", continue to broaden the boundaries, help more game creativity with Chinese cultural characteristics to go to the global stage, and make console games a daily entertainment choice for more Chinese players.
The fourth phase of the "China Star Program" recruitment is now open. If you and your team are interested in participating in the "China Star Program", please send the company and project introduction to: china.heroproject@sony.com
As a leading digital entertainment and interactive platform leader, Sony Interactive Entertainment (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. (SIESH) provides PlayStation® game consoles and series of related products and services to consumers in China.Since the first PlayStation was born in Japan in 1994, the PlayStation series has brought surprises to players around the world through innovative technology and experience design.The PlayStation family series of products and services include PlayStation®4, PlayStation®5, PlayStation®VR, PlayStation®VR2, PlayStation™Store, PlayStation®Plus, etc., as well as well as well-received gaming software from SIE's world-renowned studios.
