APRIL 19, 2009 • Much better than expected sales of Hanuman: Boy Warrior in India has led Sony Computer Entertainment to up its estimate of first year sales of the 499 Rupee ($10) PS2 game from 30,000 to 50,000 units. Most international PS2 games sell 15,000 a year in the country. The game, released last March, is the first Sony PlayStation 2 game playable in Hindi and English.  Hanuman’s success has led Sony to plan to release six more Hindi games this year.

Impact: Sales in India are currently a rounding error in the overall scheme of SCE’s business. With average sales of only $150,000 it is hard to justify localizing a game for the market. However, selling 50,000 units of a game is an encouraging sign for growth potential. It also shows that localization does make a big difference.