"On November 11, at the very end of PlayStation's latest State of Play broadcast, Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Hideaki Nishino announced "something very special" for gamers in Japan: A Japanese-language-only PS5 console that will cost ¥55,000 yen, which is roughly $350 USD. That same console, following a price increase earlier this year, now costs $500 in the United States. Currently, the digital-only PS5 in Japan costs roughly ¥73,000."
"One of the big ones, as reported by the Financial Times, is rising inflation and the yen losing value in Sony's home country. And since, as Dr. Serkan Toto, CEO of Tokyo-based game industry consultancy Kantan Games , many gamers in Japan don't care about their consoles being region-locked or restricted to Japanese only, this is a way for Sony to offer a cheaper console to one of its key markets."
"It also makes it harder for resellers and people outside of Japan to snatch up PS5 consoles at a cheaper price, a factor that led to Nintendo offering its very own Japan-only Switch 2 console earlier this year. And yeah, that's another likely reason for a Japan-only PS5: The Switch 2 is doing very well in the country, and the OG Switch is holding its own, too. Sony's pricey PS5 is likely too much for consumers in Japan who are struggling with inflation."
Sony will release a Japanese-language-only PlayStation 5 Digital Edition exclusively in Japan for ¥55,000 (~$350), available November 21. The standard digital PS5 price in Japan is roughly ¥73,000 and the same model costs about $500 in the United States after earlier price increases. The Japan-only unit is region-locked to Japanese language and aims to reduce grey-market resale and appeal to domestic gamers who accept language restrictions. Contributing factors include rising inflation, a weaker yen, and competition from Nintendo's successful, lower-cost Japan-only Switch 2. The localized pricing seeks to boost affordability and sales in Japan.
Read at Kotaku
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