Sony is clearly aiming to counter the Nintendo Switch 2 in its home market while keeping momentum for the five-year-old PlayStation 5. Sony Interactive Entertainment Japan Asia has announced a Japanese language version of the PS5 Digital Edition without a Blu-ray drive, priced at 55,000 yen including tax, with preorders opening on November 13. The console launches in Japan on November 21.

For context, the current multilingual PS5 SKU retails for 72,980 yen in Japan, making the Japan-only unit 17,980 yen cheaper. It is also just 5,020 yen more expensive than the Japanese language SKU of the Nintendo Switch 2. There are important caveats: this PS5 works only with PlayStation Network accounts registered in Japan, and the system language is locked to Japanese. In practice, it mirrors the limitations of the budget-friendly Switch 2 model sold in the country.

Several fresh commercials can be watched below, offering a taste of Sony’s advertising tone in Japan. The strategy is plainly about competing head-on with Nintendo. Putting aside how inexpensive the domestically focused PS5 and Switch 2 may look in Japan when weighed against cost of living and wages, the move shows how platform holders use region-specific hardware to sharpen positioning.

In recent years, both Sony and Microsoft have raised prices multiple times, running counter to the traditional cycle where hardware typically gets cheaper as a generation matures. Nintendo will likely wait until 2026 before adjusting Switch 2 pricing, so expect sharper segmentation and region targeting in the meantime on the Japanese market.

Sources: Gematsu – PlayStation Blog JP