PlayStation’s previous management believed that reducing Nintendo’s market share in Japan was acceptable, but modern CEO Hideaki Nishino – who is Japanese and replaced British leader Jim Ryan – will not go down without a fight.
According to a report by Tokyo Television (translated by the user Hartmann ON Install the database), the company has committed to its plan to release a cheaper Japanese-only model within four months of its rival implementing the same strategy with the Switch 2.
The move comes with significant risk: the model could lose the manufacturer’s money as component prices have skyrocketed since the PS5’s launch in 2020. However, Nishino apparently believes it is necessary to stop PlayStation’s domestic rot.
While the PS5 started off quite robust in Japan, its sales have dropped significantly due to rising prices. Worse still, Nintendo’s influence in the region with its more attractive hybrid hardware form factor began to erode Sony’s market share.
The most essential wake-up call for the manufacturer may be the appearance of titles such as Resident Evil Requiem and Final Fantasy 7 Remake on Switch 2. Historically, titles of this type have been omitted by Nintendo hardware due to technical limitations.
Of course, Sony still has an uphill battle ahead of it: it can’t compete with the cultural dominance of its rival’s first-party titles, and the PS5’s desktop form factor will always put it at a disadvantage.
But Nishino will be hoping that a significant price cut and renewed marketing efforts will at least get the PS5 moving in the right direction again.
In the coming months, we should have a better idea of whether his bet paid off.
