Japan PS5 Push Square

PS5 console sales in Japan have skyrocketed in the past week, as the new model designed specifically for the country enters the market.

Accounting for around two to three days' worth of sales, there were exactly 23,381 purchases of the PS5 Digital Edition in Japan through until 23rd November. In comparison, PS5 sales the week before slumped to just 5,855.

This means that the Japan-specific PS5 model, which has launched at a lower price and is essentially region-locked to Japan, has resulted in roughly four times as many sales upon its first few days on the market. The Switch 2 is still very comfortably outselling it, with 126,000+ purchases recorded between 17th and 23rd November, but the PS5 has at least seen a noticeable uptick in sales.

The new model of PS5 for Japan comes with a price drop (from ¥72,980 (~$473) down to ¥55,000 (~$350)) and can only be used in the Japanese language, also requiring the use of a Japanese PSN account. This renders the unit almost useless outside of the country, as Sony specifically targets sales improvements in the Japanese market. Nintendo does offer a similar version of the Switch 2, and its sales successes are clear to see.

Here's how the Japanese hardware sales look overall for 17th-23rd November (via Gematsu):

  1. Switch 2 – 126,953
  2. PlayStation 5 Digital Edition – 23,381
  3. Switch OLED Model – 12,486
  4. PlayStation 5 Pro – 11,367
  5. Switch Lite – 10,908
  6. Switch – 5,976
  7. PlayStation 5 – 2,235
  8. Xbox Series X Digital Edition – 201
  9. Xbox Series X – 118
  10. Xbox Series S – 30
  11. PlayStation 4 – 17

[source gematsu.com]