The demonstration of the PlayStation version at the August 1996 Tokyo Game Show was reportedly on a massive screen that dwarfed all of Taito's other demos at the show. The game was ported to the PlayStation in Japan in January 1997, and in March "videogames.com", then the video gaming website of GameSpot, reported that "several companies are interested in porting" it for a North American release; no specific companies were named. Publisher/localization team Working Designs previously attempted to license "RayForce", but publisher Acclaim had acquired exclusive rights to publish Taito's games in the Western Hemisphere just a few days before. When they heard about "RayStorm", they asked Taito if that game was available, licensed it immediately, and met with Taito to discuss converting the game for American release in April. Working Designs' version was both their first release for the PlayStation and the first game released under their "SPAZ" label dedicated to shooter games; the last under that label was the next "Ray" game, "RayCrisis". Working Designs had reconsidered their decision to not publish games for the PlayStation in light of Sony's changing attitude towards RPGs. On the same month it was released, an "Interactive CD Sampler" containing a playable demo of the game was bundled with American PlayStation consoles.