During Tuesday’s Japan-focused State of Play, Sony announced a new, cheaper Japanese-language-only PlayStation 5 Digital Edition console that will be available exclusively in Japan. It’s likely a reaction to tariffs in the United States, inflation in Japan, and Nintendo’s own cheaper Japan-only Switch 2.
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. So if you live in Japan and know the language, you can save quite a bit of money buying this cheaper, Japanese-only version of the PS5, which goes on sale on November 21.
As to why Sony is releasing a cheaper, Japan-only PS5, there are a few factors. 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 told VGC, 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. A cheaper, region-locked PS5 that can’t be easily resold on the grey market could be a big hit in Japan and help Sony regain some ground. It also marks Sony’s first region-locked console since the PlayStation 2.
Of course, one more factor in all of this is the ongoing tariffs enacted by President Donald Trump. These tariffs led to Sony raising the price of all PS5 consoles in the United States earlier this year, and a Japan-only PS5 can help the company focus on its local market without having to pay high tariffs or deal with outside buyers. Who had “Region-Locked Consoles Return In 2025” on their horrible bingo card?
AloJapan.com