Over in Japan, Nintendo sells a Japanese-only version of the Switch 2, which means the platform is region-locked to Japanese releases only. Nintendo made this move in order to provide Japanese customers with a Switch 2 that is considerably cheaper than the standard model, and customers have been eating it up ever since launch. Switch 2 has been the #1 hardware in Japan since it arrived in June, leaving the PS5 struggling to a degree.
According to a report by TV Tokyo, Sony’s previous management weren’t concerned about Nintendo when it came to Japanese hardware sales. For years, Sony apparently didn’t pay much attention to Nintendo’s success in the region and instead focused their efforts in other areas of the world. Now, current PlayStation CEO Hideaki Nishino feels like it’s time to step in and make a change.
As you might know, Sony recently announced plans for a Japanese-only version of the PS5 that would also see a sizable price cut when compared to the versions of PS5 available now. While this move could end up costing Sony money in terms of manufacturing costs, the CEO believes this to be a necessary move in order to turn the company’s PS5 fortunes and mindshare around in Japan.
There’s no doubt we’ve seen Nintendo make huge leaps in terms of third party support during the Switch era, and that strong trend is very much continuing on Switch 2. Seeing this growing third party support for Nintendo has to worry Sony at least slightly. Will Sony be able to push back on Switch 2 and slow its momentum with a price-cut PS5? We’ll have to see how the battle plays out in the coming weeks.
AloJapan.com