Cleverly riding the wave of Monster Hunter Wilds’ release, GEO, one of Japan’s biggest video game retailers, launched a brand-new PS5 rental service on February 28. As of March 6, the service is fully booked across all regions of Japan, making it impossible to reserve at the time of writing.
It’s not known how many PS5s GEO has available for rental in the first place, but given that the service is being provided by 400 of its stores nationwide, it would be reasonable to assume that they are renting out a solid number of PS5s. Both the 8-day and 15-day rental plans are booked until mid-April, with appointments beyond that date not yet available.
Contributing to the popularity of the service is its surprisingly affordable pricing, with the 8-day plan being around $6.56 USD and the 15-day plan priced around $11.92 USD. In addition, Monster Hunter Wilds has no doubt been a big incentive for people who don’t own a PS5 to try renting one.
As an aside, Japanese people on X who rented a PS5 from GEO have reported having such a great time with the console that they decided to buy their own.
