Despite Flagging Physical Software Sales, PS5's Retail Presence Is Still Strong in Japan (2024)

I'm sure Sony will find some way to spin it so they're winning. Perhaps a "dollars made per game sold" metric would tickle their fancy?

Very interesting piece! Would love to go there some day.

@Konks The whole district is like some kind of video game and anime heaven. Haha!

Thanks for reading!

Japan is the super human race. They know what's good. I guess Alan Wake 2 would have died completely if it were only released in Japan. 👍🏼

I'm heading there for the first time in July and I'm so excited. I'm staying just outside Akihabara. Gotta clear some room in my suitcase as I'm sure I'm going to see lots of things I want to take back to the UK with me.

@Jey887 Consider taking a second case.

@Jey887
19 months and counting for me. Determined to have some form of understanding of the language so I’m studying an hour or so a day. Definitely taking an empty suitcase with me lol.

@get2sammyb great article, thanks! I'll have to tailend akiba on my family trip to Japan and book an extra suitcase for the return flight. Usually avoid shopping when traveling, but I'll have to make an exception for Japan.

@Nintendo4Sonic absolutely! Most people unknowingly grew up with so much amazing stuff from Japan anyways. That might explain why people feel nostalgic about stuff like city pop, even though it's a place and time that we haven't lived in.

Big in Japa-a-a-an 🎵

I don't think this van be repeated enough, but physical sales are not flagging.

At least, not entirely naturally.

Publishers are intentionally publishing less physical releases and then pointing to lower physical sales as their reasoning.

Platforms like Sony don't allow for complete editions on a disc and DLC is a code and this counts as DLC. So if you bought the Phantom Liberty edition of Cyberpunk 2077, for example, your purchase counted towards both because the code usage is registered as a digital download.

There's some serious fudging going on and it's to try and convince everyone there's no need for a physical market and that we should accept digital.

Now, I'm not against digital and I have a decent TV digital library on many platforms, but physical is my preferred format.

The problem is that publishers get less money from a physical sale because there's additional costs. Retailers take the most risk because they buy and hold the stock. A £69.99 game sold physically is probably sold to the store, via the publisher/distributor for about £30.

As we know, digital has none of that, just a 30% cut to the platform holder.

I think Sony and Microsoft are in cahoots with publishers (and both of them are a publisher anyway) to get rid of physical media so that they can reap all the benefits.

The problem is that a strong physical market keeps the digital one in check. When retailers have been holding stock too long they cut the price. When you can buy "NewGame 2" for £69.99 on PSN or £39.99 on Amazon, there's a clear choice there and an incentive to drop the PSN price to £39.99 as well.

Without a physical market, digital prices will go to and remain higher for longer because your choice and competition has been removed. Without physical releases, Sony and Microsoft have a monopoly on buying games for their platform.

My opinion is that PlayStation players like Xbox players prefer digital games more than physical games

Erm, create (AND SUPPORT!) a new handheld?

Not that crappy portal but a proper PSP2 (or 3, if you count the Vita) And yes, its name should contain PSP.

I went to Japan last year and there was definitely some interest in PlayStation (at least far more than internet dwellers have you believe).

Granted I went to Bic Camera so there was a lot more people.

PS5 sold over 2,5 million in 2023, the highest ever since the PS2 in Japan. Think about that.

It's also outpacing the PS4 despite of the shortages and Sony giving preference in the pandemic to the Western market for supplies.

Weird narrative regarding home console.

@sanderson72 They do not even need to do that. A PlayStation Steam Deck would fly off the shelves. I still have no idea what they were thinking with Portal. Talk about missing the barn door completely with that one.

So lets look at the two games mentioned: FF7 Remake had a more mixed reception among japanese gamers for the changes to the story and the heavy action oriented jrpg combat system, so I'm not surprised people are more apprehensive about Rebirth. DD2 has generally been poorly received in Japan with Ronin getting far better word of mouth.

The Nintendo domination is not surprising especially with the handheld nature of the Switch and the strong association to many of the IP. A native handheld console like a Ps4.5 or ps5.5 could do huge there.

@LifeGirl But PS Portal has been hugely popular? It's been a surprise success!

And it makes more sense than a very large, heavy, and likely expensive portable!

I am astounded that people are still shifting towards digital, given recent events with games disappearing from digital storefronts, and people losing access to TV shows etc. due to "licensing issues".

I continue to buy everything (games, music, movies) on physical media whenever possible. Not only do you actually have a product which can't be taken away, but when it comes to games, it's usually notably cheaper.

It's also been asked in the past why digital versions cost the same (or more) than physical versions when there's no physical media, case, distribution costs etc., and an explanation I've often read is that they don't want to undercut their bricks and mortar retail partners. That always gave an impression that costs would come down if they didn't need to worry about that.

However, as @MattBoothDev said above, we should all hope that the physical market remains strong, because if it disappears, digital prices won't go down, they'll go up... because when digital is the only source, they'll have us all over a barrel, and will charge whatever they like. If you buy everything digital, you're shooting everyone in the foot, including yourself.

@get2sammyb @LifeGirl
I can't praise Portal enough.

Fair enough it doesn't play games locally, but it doesn't need to.
Sometimes when I use it I forget that I'm even streaming, and my internet is not that good - 11mbs download is a good day for me.

I think Sony knew exactly what they were doing with Portal and who it was for. The only mistake they made was listening to internet feedback and not realising how many people actually want it.

As for the popularity of stationary consoles, in Japan they are definitely not as popular as they used to be for various social and economic reasons, or so it would seem at a glance.
Still, clearly consoles are as strong as they have ever been elsewhere.
It's interesting to follow the trends in Japan though.
@LifeGirl If you're still in college do a thesis and let us all know what you find 😎

Japanese fans were literally told there was a production issue with FF7Rebirth and to not buy the physical copies if they wanted to avoid it, it makes sense why those copies are down

And that's what a video game shop looks like in a country where shoplifting is almost non-existent as it is dealt with VERY severely.

Makes GAME in Surrey Quays look even poorer, and that's one of the better ones.

@Futureshark The game cases are actually just empty Blu-rays with printed covers.

@get2sammyb Admit it, you visited a maid Cafe whilst you was there 😜, had the pleasure of visiting Akiba twice and it's something else, anyone who loves Anime and Gaming should try and go atleast once in their life.

Also That xbox section can go once Palworld comes to playstation lol.

@get2sammyb @LifeGirl "And it makes more sense than a very large, heavy, and likely expensive portable!"

A new PSP would sort that problem - a slightly bigger screen, and full-PS controls (multiple shoulder buttons and clickable sticks) and you could still have it pocket sized. At the moment, Nintendo are romping away with Japan as there is no competition in the hand-held market. The Vita did OK over there but with a Sony-branded knife sticking out of its back, it was never going to fly.

As for stationary consoles in Japan, I'm surprised they have bought as many PS5s as they have - maybe they've thrown their sofa out of a window to fit in that fridge freezer?

@sanderson72 Really just a Portable PS4 then. I'm sure that could work, they could really make it small enough close to the GPD Win 4 in specs and somewhat pocketable in size.

The Portal has still been a success, but I think people were obviously expecting something more.

@TheTraditional I like the GPD Win 4 - the sliding screen to reveal a keyboard reminds me of my old Sony Ericsson Mini Pro android phone!

But yes, something PS4 capable would be amazing - a 1080p screen would be fine and not cause any performance headaches whilst be relatively cheap to manufacture.

When Sony announced a new PS portable, of course we were expecting a PSP 2 (or 3). Having to have your PS5 on so you can play a game on a small handheld just wasn't what was needed. Now imagine a PSP 2/3 with remote play.

@thefourfoldroot1 Wow, that's some dedication. I've learned a few phrases but will have to rely mostly on Google Translate I think.

@Jey887
It’s actually a very organised language. Labels for each part of the sentence (topic/subject, object, etc), verb conjugations deal with most other things; there’s no genders, which is what stops me learning most languages. Admittedly reading Kanji will be hard, but hiragana and katakana can be learned in a day, and internalised after a few weeks reading practice. Overall it seems one of the easier languages. Don’t think I’ll ever get the pitch accent right, but compared to tonal langauges it really is smooth going.

@Retron them and Nintendo already won lol

@DarkTron it was a misprint between the Data disc and Play Disc, so for the Asian versions, you just install the "Play Disc" and afterwards insert the "Data Disc" shouldn't be a hassle.

@Witcher1994 not all and some prefer physical or hell, prefer both.

@get2sammyb

I don’t agree. I mean, The Portal clearly sold well. But I too think a dedicated handheld is the way to go. Look at the Switch, the Steam Deck, Rog Ally and Legion Go. Handheld is on the rise, again.

Hell, if the Portal would accept Bluetooth headphones/plugs/whatnot it would make A LOT more sense (this is something that annoys the hell out of me, I don’t want or need the Pulse Elite or Explorers, I even returned my Pulse Elite ‘cause it’s the worst Planar Magnetic headphones I’ve ever used). I’d still like to try one though 😂 But I got a SD Oled with Chiaki4Deck, and I can set bitrate and more higher than the Portal can handle, plus Chiaki4Deck now supports HDR on the Deck Oled! So the games look fantastic). So that’ll do for me personally.

I don’t think Sony’s gonna release a new dedicated handheld, but Microsoft might… Interesting times!

@MattBoothDev I only buy physical games for my consoles. And I only buy physical blu rays. A strong physical market is needed to counter these corporations whom want us all to be tied into subscription services indefinitely is their plans. As they will make more money in the long term. They can control the narrative with digital. With physical one keeps their items indefinitely assuming the console works. No chance of delisting or censorship.

@Vaako007 Fully agreed. I'm not adverse to digital games, though. They have a place in the market and they're more ecologically friendly, but the industry can't be trusted at all

As for movies... Well I used to buy those but now I acquire elsewhere where formats and quality aren't a problem... And neither is the matter of ownership of the files.