The State Of Play Japan featured several PlayStation hardware announcements, as Sony looks to boost console sales in the region.
Sony’s first Japanese State Of Play was low on announcements in terms of games, unless you’re excited about Elden Ring Nightreign DLC, but it did feature a couple of key hardware reveals.
Unfortunately, none of them are being released in Europe. In the case of one, however, that’s not unexpected.
Sony closed the presentation with the announcement of a Japanese-only version of the digital PlayStation 5 console, which will be sold at the discounted price of ¥55,000 (£270). The current price of the same console, which isn’t region-locked, is ¥72,980 (£359).
While it is a significant reduction, the Japanese-only version is still more expensive than the initial launch price of the PlayStation 5 Digital Edition. The digital SKU launched at ¥39,980 (£196), but like the rest of the world, it has been subject to several price increases since.
The new region-locked digital edition, which comes with 825GB of storage, will launch on November 21, 2025.
A Japanese-only console comes after Nintendo launched a cheaper Switch 2 variant in the region, priced at ¥49,980 (£245). Sony’s decision to follow suit is clearly intended to keep the PlayStation 5 competitive against Nintendo’s new machine, at a time when console prices are going up due to inflation and US tariffs.
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Capcom president Haruhito Tsujimoto recently blamed the high price of the PlayStation 5 for the poor sales momentum behind Monster Hunter Wilds, which may have also driven Sony to launch this new console.
While this makes sense as a Japanese-only release, Sony’s other hardware announcement is more difficult to understand. A new 27” gaming monitor, complete with a charging stand for the PlayStation 5 DualSense controller, will launch in 2026 – but only in the US and Japan.
As outlined on the PlayStation blog, the monitor supports up to 2560×1440 resolution, and includes high dynamic range (HDR) and a variable refresh rate (VRR) of up to 120Hz.
There’s no suggestion that it could launch in other territories after 2026, and it’s unclear as to why it’s only being released in those countries. Prior to this State Of Play, Sony revealed the Pulse Elevate wireless speakers, but those are set to launch worldwide (as far as we know) in 2026, so it’s even more perplexing.
Sony hasn’t announced how much the monitor will cost, but it’s another sign that the company is making a bigger push for the PC market – which might coalesce with its plans for the PlayStation 6.
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