PlayStation 5 'rental service' lets you grab a console for next to nothing

This is an interesting new initiative.

One retailer in Japan is launching a PlayStation 5 rental service, and it’s worth pondering the impact on the industry if this kind of thing takes off.

As reported by Automaton Media, Japanese video game retailer GEO is the company launching this service, and it’s incredibly reasonable.

From today, it’s possible to rent a PlayStation 5 from GEO stores across Japan.

It’ll set you back 980 yen for seven nights and eight days, which converts to just $6.51 or £5.18.

Alternatively, if you wanted the PlayStation 5 for 14 nights and 15 days, it’s even more cost effective at 1, 780 yen.

That’s around $11.83 or £9.40.

So, why might you want to rent a PlayStation 5? Well, it’s a great way of trialling the console if you’re new to gaming or don’t know whether to upgrade from the PlayStation 4.

If you’re an Xbox or Switch owner, it’s also a good way of playing a PlayStation 5 exclusive title if you don’t want to splash out on an entire console.

I could see it appealing to many.

Ghost of Yōtei is an upcoming PlayStation 5 exclusive, set to launch later this year.

Admittedly, this isn’t the first PS5 rental service in the country, but as noted by MyNavi, it’s one that comes from a trusted retailer and it’s one of the cheapest, so perhaps that’s what was needed to get this idea to take off.

PlayStation fans in other territories seem open to the idea of a rental service.

“If you only wanted to play like one exclusive game, that actually isn’t a bad deal,” said Reddit user Therenegadegamer.

“Would be cool to have this as an option. Imagine boring family summers in Lake-Ville USA. You swing by your local GameStop and rent a console so you don’t have to risk traveling with yours. Login, download your library and pickup with cloud saves,” added BoyWhoSoldTheWorld.

Exactly. It’ll be interesting to see how the service is received.