Sony released a language-locked cut-price PS5 in Japan this week, and social media is full of excited players posting pictures of their purchases.
While the system started out fairly strong domestically, the weakening yen paired with soaring hardware costs has killed the machine’s momentum locally. Reports suggest previous management was happy to let the hardware languish locally.
But new CEO Hideaki Nishino – a Japanese executive – allegedly felt “uncomfortable” about the format’s fortunes at home, and has cooked up a rescue plan involving a language-locked model, inspired by the Switch 2.
The new model makes a dramatic difference to the device’s price, dropping it from ¥72,980 (~$473) to ¥55,000 (~$350). It’s a risk as Sony could reportedly end up losing money on the unit, but Nishino believes it’s important for PlayStation to put up a fight against Nintendo’s wildly successful family of hybrid hardware.
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And social media is currently full of Japanese players who all picked up the more affordable console at launch yesterday.
“Finally, the PS5 has arrived at our home,” one person wrote on X (or Twitter). “I’m so happy.”
PS5 sales have been particularly poor in Japan of late, with the console barely managing to top 5k units last week. While it’s unlikely the system will be able to maintain pace with the Switch 2, Sony will be looking for a steady uplift that at least keeps the console relevant in the region.
We should get early indications of the impact from Famitsu in its sales data report next week.