Nestled towards the end of Sony’s “State of Play Japan” stream last week was the announcement of a lower cost, Japanese-only PlayStation 5 system. Taking a cue from Nintendo’s own tactic with the Switch 2 in the region, this version of the PS5 would feature only Japanese language support so that Sony can combat scalping and increasing costs of manufacturing. According to a report from Japanese outlet TV Tokyo, it turns out the move allegedly came after PlayStation CEO Hideaki Nishino pushed for the option to combat the Switch 2’s massive success in Japan.
For years now, Sony has increasingly focused on western markets when it came to PlayStation. We’ve seen that philosophy come to fruition with the closure of Japan Studio in 2021 and the company’s games output coming primarily from western studios. As TV Tokyo believes, previous management at Sony was not concerned with its shrinking market share in Japan. It also did not pay attention to Nintendo’s success in the region, believing the momentum from the Nintendo Switch would not continue. For Nishino, his wake-up call was seeing the announcement of titles such as Final Fantasy VII Remake and Resident Evil Requiem coming to Switch 2 after years of Nintendo losing out on big third-party games.
Obviously, this type of move is going to cost Sony money in the short term. Prices on the PS5 have increased globally, and the PS5 Pro has not been making much headway for the company. Nishino believes taking this hit right now will help prevent the PlayStation from fading from Japanese players’ minds, not to mention restore some of its market share in the region. He was reportedly the reason a “State of Play Japan” even happened and hopes the price reduction and a renewed marketing push will keep the brand healthy in Japan. I can’t say I disagree with him.
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Written by Peter Glagowski
Peter has been a freelance gaming and film critic for over seven years. His passion for Nintendo is only matched by the size of his collection.
