Sony expands its China Hero Project in 2025 with new PlayStation 5 exclusives, Exiledge, and Daba: Land of Water Scar. Here’s how this global push is reshaping China’s console gaming industry.
Sony is intensifying its support of China’s gaming sector, and the long-running China Hero Project is at long last stepping into the limelight. Initially launched in 2016, the initiative was intended to assist indie and mid-sized Chinese studios in reaching worldwide audiences by means of financing, equipment, and worldwide promotion. Sony has clarified that this is a full-fledged worldwide project aimed at bringing top-tier Chinese-developed games to PlayStation 5 and PC, not only local support, now in its fourth phase.
This new phase offers more support for developers. Through PlayStation’s worldwide channels, Sony is also extending marketing reach, technical support via their UI/UX teams, and even codevelopment help through studios like Virtuos, renowned for working on Metal Gear Solid Δ: Snake Eater. Moreover, RichTap is improving the haptic feedback sensation for the DualSense controller on the PlayStation 5, therefore setting ever-higher standards for immersive gaming.
Transforming these original Chinese titles into global successes—games that could become system sellers like past PlayStation exclusives from Japan or the West—is the aim. At a press conference before China Joy 2025, Sony revealed two fresh titles as part of this wave.
Built in Unreal Engine, the first, Exiledge, is a quick third-person shooter combining furious action with a sleek, cinematographic style inspired by Devil May Cry or Bayonetta. Following a humanoid clay puppet through a strange planet, the second title, Daba: Land of Water Scar, presents a more emotional and artistic voyage, eliciting feelings like Journey or Shadow of the Colossus.
At least initially, both games are meant to be PlayStation 5 console exclusives. Sony’s history with previous China Hero Project games like Lost Soul Aside, which finally branched out to PC, points to a potential development of these titles as well. Still, Sony evidently regards China as a significant source of new, original intellectual property. Although China’s mobile and PC gaming industries have long ruled, the console gaming scene is still expanding, and Sony aims to be at the hub of that growth.
Investing in distinctive storytelling and gameplay from Chinese creators gives Sony new exclusives and global content, while local studios get resources and international recognition. Particularly as gamers hunger for new adventures outside of the usual AAA series, it’s a strategic win-win.
Though the China Hero Project might not yet be a household name in the West, Sony’s growing support and new properties like Exiledge and Daba: Land of Water Scar on the horizon are poised to change that swiftly.
