PS5 Price Issue Is Shameful, Sony Do Something

The pricing of the latest model of the PlayStation 5 has clearly rubbed some people up the wrong way, because they can’t figure out why some countries are being forced to pay much, much more to get their hands on one of Sony’s consoles.

Regional pricing differences aren’t exactly a new concept, especially where electronic devices are concerned.

There are dozens of reasons why one console might be more expensive in one region. Tariffs are an obvious one, but sometimes the reason can be far less straightforward.

For instance, if something is manufactured in the same country it’s sold in, generally that leads to it being slightly less expensive in said country.

However, in the case of the newly announced Japan-exclusive PlayStation 5, the reasoning behind its price point is a lot more complex to explain.

Over on Twitter, user @Modyfikator89 posted a thread comparing the regional pricing difference between Sony’s PlayStation 5 in Japan and a PlayStation 5 in Poland.

In Japan, a Digital PlayStation 5, a PlayStation 5 Disc Drive add-on and a stand will set you back roughly 55,000 Japanese Yen. In Poland, that would cost roughly 2,679 PLN.

For comparison, that means the same bundle would cost you £260 in Japan, but roughly £555 in Poland.

Funnily enough, the same bundle would actually cost you £525 if you purchased it through Sony’s website in the United Kingdom. So, while that is slightly cheaper than what it would cost you in Poland, it’s still far more expensive than what it would set you back in Japan.

So, what’s going on here? Why is the PS5 50% cheaper in Japan than in basically every other region?

Sony's recently announced Japan exclusive PS5 model, Sony

That's because the system featured in the post is a newly announced Japanese-language-only PS5 Digital Edition.

These were announced by Sony back in November, and, much in the same vein as the Japanese-exclusive variants of the Nintendo Switch 2, they have a lot of limitations.

For a start, they're region locked. You can't use discs from other regions, even if you buy a disc-drive add-on, and you can only use a Japanese PSN profile.

Ok, sure, but then why are the likes of Sony and Nintendo not producing similarly cheaper, region-locked systems for other regions?

At the moment, the Japanese Yen isn’t doing too well. It’s an explanation probably best saved for a financial journalist, but, for a myriad of reasons, the Japanese Yen is currently at the weakest it's been since 2008.

Sony and Nintendo are Japanese companies. If people in Japan weren’t able to buy the systems they produce, it would arguably reflect somewhat poorly on them.

It’s often believed that most console manufacturers actually lose money when selling their hardware, because said manufacturers sell them at a loss with the intention of immediately recouping money via software sales.

Perhaps this is Sony’s intention here, but to a much larger degree. Still, I can’t help but wonder if regional versions of consoles for countries other than Japan might be a good idea moving forward, too (especially if the price of RAM keeps skyrocketing).