Sony made the PS5 Pro 30th Anniversary harder to buy in Japan – and it should have done so elsewhere
Sony made the PS5 Pro 30th Anniversary harder to buy in Japan – and it should have done so elsewhere
Sony made it harder for scalpers to get the elusive PS5 Pro 30th Anniversary console in Japan
👏 Sony introduced buying restrictions in Japan for the PS5 Pro 30th Anniversary Edition
👉 Buyers needed a PSN account with at least 30 hours of activity on PS4 or PS5 between February 2014 and September 19, 2024
🤷♂️ The same restriction in the US, UK, and Europe would have helped more people have a chance of getting the PS5 Pro 30th Anniversary Edition
🤪 The limited edition PS5 Pro bundle is only being resold for silly money on eBay
The PS5 Pro 30th Anniversary sold out in minutes in the US, UK, and the rest of Europe, but Sony introduced some buying restrictions in Japan that would have done wonders to prevent scalpers and resellers here.
Unlike in the rest of the world, where all you needed was a valid PlayStation Network account, Sony required Japanese buyers to have a PSN account registered in Japan and at least 30 hours of activity on PS4 or PS5 between February 2014 and September 19, 2024.
While it still wouldn’t have prevented the PS5 Pro 30th Anniversary bundle from selling out fast, it at least would have stopped a significant number of people from buying the console if they didn’t meet the requirements.
It’s strange that Sony only restricted buyers in Japan and not other territories, especially as the console bundle was limited to 12,300 units. Unsurprisingly, the PS5 Pro is already being resold for silly money by scalpers, with some listings asking for 400% more than the PS5 Pro 30th Anniversary price of $999.99.
The standard PS5 Pro still hasn’t sold out ahead of its release date, which perhaps isn’t too surprising. At $699.99 and with no disc drive or vertical stand included, the console is the very definition of a luxury purchase.
Still, the PlayStation 5 Pro should make many of the best PS5 games even better by improving the resolution and frame rates, and adding more ray tracing support. It should also increase the amount of 120fps PS5 games available.
Those who have an 8K display will also benefit, though the list of 8K PS5 Pro games can be counted on two fingers, currently.
Hopefully, Sony will introduce tighter restrictions on future hardware launches as we’ve seen countless times that scalpers are always looking for an opportunity to benefit from low supply and high demand. Even the PS5 Disc Drive was snapped up ahead of the PS5 Pro’s launch to resell it for a higher price than the $79.99 MSRP.
The PS5 Pro release on November 7 while the PS5 Pro 30th Anniversary is available on November 21. If you’d still like to get your hands on the Anniversary Edition console, Walmart will stock the 30th Anniversary Collection PS5 Slim on October 10 at 10am ET / 7am PT.
Up next: PS5 Pro enhanced games: these are all the PlayStation 5 titles that will benefit
Adam Vjestica is The Shortcut’s Senior Editor. Formerly TechRadar’s Gaming Hardware Editor, Adam has also worked at Nintendo of Europe as a Content Marketing Editor, where he helped launch the Nintendo Switch. Follow him on X @ItsMrProducts.