Sony Computer Entertainment’s vice president of distributor markets Chris Stanton-Jones has told MCV that publishers risk missing out on making a killing in emerging markets if they don’t start investing now.

Having identified key ‘hot markets’ including Russia, India, the Balkans and Poland, Stanton-Jones revealed several eyebrow-raising facts about emerging markets.

“It is boom time in the emerging markets,” he told MCV.

“Combined, these markets are now the largest in the PAL world in terms of turnover. Our emerging markets operation now covers pretty much everyone in the PAL region with a colour television – the operation is present in a total of 82 territories.

“The Russian market is forecast to overtake Italy in a year and a half, and the Indian software market has grown ten-fold since last year.

“Moving into the emerging markets is not as complex as some people think. The figures for PlayStation Network registration dispel the myth that emerging markets are the ‘back of beyond’. In some markets there’s as much as 50 per cent PSN registration. The only real negative in these areas is the piracy problem, but as retail continues to develop this will become less of an issue.”