{"id":53920,"date":"2025-11-14T22:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-11-14T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/?p=53920"},"modified":"2025-11-14T15:33:22","modified_gmt":"2025-11-14T06:33:22","slug":"sonys-cheap-japan-only-ps5-model-may-rekindle-the-console-race-in-japan-for-the-first-time-in-a-while-says-domestic-journalist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/sonys-cheap-japan-only-ps5-model-may-rekindle-the-console-race-in-japan-for-the-first-time-in-a-while-says-domestic-journalist\/","title":{"rendered":"Sony\u2019s cheap, Japan-only PS5 model \u201cmay rekindle the console\u00a0race\u00a0in Japan for the first time in a while\u201d says domestic\u00a0journalist\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

During its recent State of Play Japan broadcast, Sony announced a region-locked, Japanese language-only PS5 Digital Edition<\/strong>. Releasing on November 21, the new SKU will retail at a very affordable price of 55,000 yen (about $350 USD), which is almost 20,000 yen cheaper than the standard Digital Edition currently available in Japan. Writing for Yahoo Japan\u2019s<\/a> expert corner, domestic journalist Kawamura Meikou calls the timing of this move by SIE \u201cperfect, if not frightening.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The \u201ccheaper\u00a0Japan-only version\u201d method is not only\u00a0similar to\u00a0what Nintendo did (and saw success in<\/a>) with the Nintendo Switch 2, but it also puts the PS5 in roughly the same price range as the Switch 2,\u00a0which retails at\u00a049,980\u00a0yen\u00a0(about $320 USD)\u00a0for the domestic version. Kawamura\u00a0speculates\u00a0that SIE is targeting the \u201cshortage-driven demand\u201d caused by the Switch 2\u2019s\u00a0current scarcity, as the console has yet to start regular, over-the-counter sales in\u00a0most of the country (exceptions being rural areas where supply is able to stay on top of demand).\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Japan-only<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

By\u00a0taking advantage of\u00a0that gap\u00a0with an affordable PS5 model, Kawamura says SIE might have \u201crekindled the console\u00a0race\u00a0in Japan for the first time in a while.\u201d\u00a0PS5\u2019s performance in Japan has been sluggish in past years (total sales\u00a0are at\u00a07\u00a0million units<\/a>), and\u00a0the console has\u00a0not been directly competitive with the Switch,\u00a0appealing primarily to core gamers due to its high\u00a0specs and (comparatively) premium price tag. On the other hand,\u00a0with its portability and convenience,\u00a0the Switch has dominated the market, reaching audiences of all ages.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However,\u00a0with the PS5\u00a0now offering a competitive price with its higher performance, consumers could be\u00a0tempted to\u00a0purchase\u00a0it instead, especially while the Switch 2 is still tricky to\u00a0get ahold of. In this sense, Kawamura considers SIE\u2019s announcement perfectly timed.\u00a0While it remains to be seen how much the Japan-only PS5 will contribute to the console\u2019s\u00a0performance picking up\u00a0in Japan, the move by Sony has been widely praised in the country\u00a0for showing regard for domestic circumstances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Related articles: A month later, Japan\u2019s cheap new PS5 rental service is still proving successful, with 200 locations renting out consoles at 100% capacity\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

During its recent State of Play Japan broadcast, Sony announced a region-locked, Japanese language-only PS5 Digital Edition. Releasing on November 21, the new SKU will retail at a very affordable price of 55,000 yen (about $350 USD), which is almost 20,000 yen cheaper than the standard Digital Edition currently available in Japan. Writing for Yahoo Japan\u2019s expert corner, domestic journalist Kawamura Meikou calls the timing of this move by SIE \u201cperfect, if not frightening.\u201d  The \u201ccheaper\u00a0Japan-only version\u201d method is not only\u00a0similar to\u00a0what Nintendo did (and saw success in) with the Nintendo Switch 2, but it also puts the PS5 in roughly the same price range as the Switch 2,\u00a0which retails at\u00a049,980\u00a0yen\u00a0(about $320 USD)\u00a0for the domestic version. Kawamura\u00a0speculates\u00a0that SIE is targeting the \u201cshortage-driven demand\u201d caused […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":55,"featured_media":53924,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[17],"class_list":["post-53920","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-japan-related-news"],"blocksy_meta":[],"yoast_head":"\nSony\u2019s cheap, Japan-only PS5 model \u201cmay rekindle the console\u00a0race\u00a0in Japan for the first time in a while\u201d says domestic\u00a0journalist\u00a0 - AUTOMATON WEST<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Sony's timing in announcing the new affordable and region-locked PS5 in Japan was "perfect, if not frightening."\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/sonys-cheap-japan-only-ps5-model-may-rekindle-the-console-race-in-japan-for-the-first-time-in-a-while-says-domestic-journalist\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sony\u2019s cheap, Japan-only PS5 model \u201cmay rekindle the console\u00a0race\u00a0in Japan for the first time in a while\u201d says domestic\u00a0journalist\u00a0 - AUTOMATON WEST\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Sony's timing in announcing the new affordable and region-locked PS5 in Japan was "perfect, if not frightening."\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/sonys-cheap-japan-only-ps5-model-may-rekindle-the-console-race-in-japan-for-the-first-time-in-a-while-says-domestic-journalist\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"AUTOMATON WEST\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-11-14T13:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/20240530-295396-header.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"710\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Amber V\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@AUTOMATON_ENG\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@AUTOMATON_ENG\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Amber V\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Sony\u2019s cheap, Japan-only PS5 model \u201cmay rekindle the console\u00a0race\u00a0in Japan for the first time in a while\u201d says domestic\u00a0journalist\u00a0 - AUTOMATON WEST","description":"Sony's timing in announcing the new affordable and region-locked PS5 in Japan was \"perfect, if not frightening.\"","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/sonys-cheap-japan-only-ps5-model-may-rekindle-the-console-race-in-japan-for-the-first-time-in-a-while-says-domestic-journalist\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Sony\u2019s cheap, Japan-only PS5 model \u201cmay rekindle the console\u00a0race\u00a0in Japan for the first time in a while\u201d says domestic\u00a0journalist\u00a0 - AUTOMATON WEST","og_description":"Sony's timing in announcing the new affordable and region-locked PS5 in Japan was \"perfect, if not frightening.\"","og_url":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/sonys-cheap-japan-only-ps5-model-may-rekindle-the-console-race-in-japan-for-the-first-time-in-a-while-says-domestic-journalist\/","og_site_name":"AUTOMATON WEST","article_published_time":"2025-11-14T13:00:00+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1280,"height":710,"url":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/20240530-295396-header.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Amber V","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@AUTOMATON_ENG","twitter_site":"@AUTOMATON_ENG","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Amber V","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/sonys-cheap-japan-only-ps5-model-may-rekindle-the-console-race-in-japan-for-the-first-time-in-a-while-says-domestic-journalist\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/sonys-cheap-japan-only-ps5-model-may-rekindle-the-console-race-in-japan-for-the-first-time-in-a-while-says-domestic-journalist\/"},"author":{"name":"Amber V","@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/fdc6517a00e35b6917ffdb02e8b574d9"},"headline":"Sony\u2019s cheap, Japan-only PS5 model \u201cmay rekindle the console\u00a0race\u00a0in Japan for the first time in a while\u201d says domestic\u00a0journalist\u00a0","datePublished":"2025-11-14T13:00:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/sonys-cheap-japan-only-ps5-model-may-rekindle-the-console-race-in-japan-for-the-first-time-in-a-while-says-domestic-journalist\/"},"wordCount":396,"commentCount":2,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/sonys-cheap-japan-only-ps5-model-may-rekindle-the-console-race-in-japan-for-the-first-time-in-a-while-says-domestic-journalist\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/20240530-295396-header.jpg","keywords":["News (Japan-related)"],"articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/sonys-cheap-japan-only-ps5-model-may-rekindle-the-console-race-in-japan-for-the-first-time-in-a-while-says-domestic-journalist\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/sonys-cheap-japan-only-ps5-model-may-rekindle-the-console-race-in-japan-for-the-first-time-in-a-while-says-domestic-journalist\/","url":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/sonys-cheap-japan-only-ps5-model-may-rekindle-the-console-race-in-japan-for-the-first-time-in-a-while-says-domestic-journalist\/","name":"Sony\u2019s cheap, Japan-only PS5 model \u201cmay rekindle the console\u00a0race\u00a0in Japan for the first time in a while\u201d says domestic\u00a0journalist\u00a0 - AUTOMATON WEST","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/sonys-cheap-japan-only-ps5-model-may-rekindle-the-console-race-in-japan-for-the-first-time-in-a-while-says-domestic-journalist\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/sonys-cheap-japan-only-ps5-model-may-rekindle-the-console-race-in-japan-for-the-first-time-in-a-while-says-domestic-journalist\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/20240530-295396-header.jpg","datePublished":"2025-11-14T13:00:00+00:00","description":"Sony's timing in announcing the new affordable and region-locked PS5 in Japan was \"perfect, if not frightening.\"","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/sonys-cheap-japan-only-ps5-model-may-rekindle-the-console-race-in-japan-for-the-first-time-in-a-while-says-domestic-journalist\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/sonys-cheap-japan-only-ps5-model-may-rekindle-the-console-race-in-japan-for-the-first-time-in-a-while-says-domestic-journalist\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/sonys-cheap-japan-only-ps5-model-may-rekindle-the-console-race-in-japan-for-the-first-time-in-a-while-says-domestic-journalist\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/20240530-295396-header.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/20240530-295396-header.jpg","width":1280,"height":710,"caption":"PS5"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/sonys-cheap-japan-only-ps5-model-may-rekindle-the-console-race-in-japan-for-the-first-time-in-a-while-says-domestic-journalist\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"\u30db\u30fc\u30e0","item":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Sony\u2019s cheap, Japan-only PS5 model \u201cmay rekindle the console\u00a0race\u00a0in Japan for the first time in a while\u201d says domestic\u00a0journalist\u00a0"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/","name":"AUTOMATON WEST","description":"AUTOMATON is a website that covers the Japanese gaming world. We bring you the news on video games from Osaka and Tokyo.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/#organization","name":"\u682a\u5f0f\u4f1a\u793e\u30a2\u30af\u30c6\u30a3\u30d6\u30b2\u30fc\u30df\u30f3\u30b0\u30e1\u30c7\u30a3\u30a2","url":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/activegamingmedia_logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/activegamingmedia_logo.png","width":374,"height":190,"caption":"\u682a\u5f0f\u4f1a\u793e\u30a2\u30af\u30c6\u30a3\u30d6\u30b2\u30fc\u30df\u30f3\u30b0\u30e1\u30c7\u30a3\u30a2"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/x.com\/AUTOMATON_ENG","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCabvYnvuUUbbGUrxkaFRgSA"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/fdc6517a00e35b6917ffdb02e8b574d9","name":"Amber V","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/12252024-100x100.jpg","url":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/12252024-100x100.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/12252024-100x100.jpg","caption":"Amber V"},"description":"Editor-in-Chief since October 2023. She grew up playing Duke Nukem and Wolfenstein with her dad, and is now enamored with obscure Japanese video games and internet culture. Currently devoted to growing Automaton West to the size of its Japanese sister-site, while making sure to keep news concise and developer stories deep and stimulating.","url":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/author\/amber-vjestica\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53920","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/55"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53920"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53920\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":53927,"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53920\/revisions\/53927"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53924"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53920"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53920"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53920"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}