Sony PS5 exclusive first-party game reportedly sold only 4 copies in China
SonyMonday, 01 September 2025 at 11:20
Sony’s latest PS5 exclusive, Lost Soul Aside,
is turning into one of the most shocking stories in recent gaming history.
Sony hoped
the game would showcase the strength of Chinese developers under the
PlayStation China Hero Project.
Instead,
the game is stuck in a storm of controversy and poor reception.
The game
first gained attention as a solo project by Yang Bing.
Later, Sony
stepped in and partnered with his studio, UltiZero Games. Expectations were
high, but trouble came last year.
In April
2024, a former team member, known as Vivian, made disturbing remarks in a
private QQ chat.
She claimed
the project survived only because of her and Bing. She also accused Sony of
ignoring Chinese players and favoring the global market.
According
to reports, her comments included a racial slur, sparking outrage. Though she
was dismissed, the damage stuck.
Bing issued
an apology, but the controversy left a scar that never healed with Chinese
gamers.
Cold reception at home and abroad
As a result
of the controversial comment, the reaction to this game in China has been
brutal.
During a
PlayStation China livestream, a journalist noted only four copies may have been
sold. That’s a shocking number for a first-party PS5 release.
Steam data
paints a similar picture worldwide. The game peaked at just 3,000 players, far
below other Sony PC releases.
Numbers
like this show how hard it is struggling to win over players.
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Technical and creative issues
Performance
problems made things worse. Before launch, early hands-on previews already
warned about unstable frame rates and rough visuals.
Those
issues remain, leading to mixed reviews on Steam, and there were also complaints
that the characters are shallow with weak writing.
Gamers also
described the voiceovers as distracting or flat, and the overall result felt
like a game in development.
Players
expected a polished action RPG with flair, but instead found something lacking
both in heart and performance.
What it means for the China Hero Project
Sony’s
China Hero Project is meant to spotlight new talent.
While Lost
Soul Aside struggles, other titles like Black Myth: Wukong show that the
potential is real.
Sony may
hope that lessons from this troubled launch help future games avoid the same
pitfalls.
For now,
the disappointment around Lost Soul Aside lingers in both China and
abroad.
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