China's censorship rules are limiting Sony's sales of PlayStation 4 in the country even after a ban on foreign gaming consoles was lifted last year, the head of the Japanese company's gaming division said. "We are still challenged somewhat with a censorship regime that we have to work with. This can be time-consuming," Andrew House, chief executive officer of Sony Computer Entertainment, told Reuters in an interview on Thursday.

Sony started selling PlayStation 4 consoles in China in March, hoping to capitalize on the end of the 14-year ban.

"I don't think it has been a kind of a rocket launch start," House said, while adding that he still saw "tremendous potential for gaming as an entertainment medium in China".