Sony Reveals A Sleek New PS5 For Only $350
Sony hiked the prices of the PlayStation 5 here in the States, including the Pro, but that hasn’t stopped anyone from buying the consoles — more than 95 million PS5s had been sold as of June 2026. But if you were to go shopping for the console in Japan, Sony’s domestic market, you’d find it much cheaper. That’s even more relevant considering Sony just unveiled a new version of the console, a “Midnight Black” model that’s pretty sleek looking (shown below). The caveat? It won’t be available outside of Japan, and it’s completely region-locked to local PSN accounts — the system language is forced to Japanese and the country settings must match. That’s what makes the PlayStation 5 consoles from the region exclusive.
As for the Midnight Black model, it’s scheduled to launch on November 19, 2026, and will cost ¥55,000 — the equivalent of $350 USD. You might also recognize that day as the official launch date for the next “Grand Theft Auto” installment. The new model is a digital version of the PS5 console with the model number CFI-2200B02S, per PlayStation Japan, and there will be a matching disc drive available separately. This is a nearly identical model to the one released in November 2025, albeit that one was all-white.
If you spotted the recent news that PS5 Pro prices have gone through the roof — as high as $1,500 at some retailers — you’re probably wishing and hoping Sony releases some cheaper models stateside. Unfortunately, that’s not likely to happen, and if new models do become available, they’ll probably be priced similarly to the existing stock.
When will PlayStation 5 hardware prices come down outside of Japan?
If you’re still on the fence about getting a PlayStation 5 and don’t have one yet, or if you’re considering an upgrade to a PS5 Pro from the base model, the current prices are certainly one big reason to shy away. Is it actually worth the high cost? The answer is unequivocally “it depends,” and the balance is 50-50. There are just as many reasons why it’s not worth it as there are reasons why it is. News also recently broke that Sony sold several patents related to VR tech, which doesn’t bode well for the PSVR2. So, if you were grabbing a console for that, you might want to reconsider.
There is some potentially good news, however — a light at the end of the tunnel, so to speak. Media outlets are now reporting PS5 physical unit sales are down because of the price hikes. There is a chance, however small, that Sony may lower prices eventually, or may offer sales and promotions to compensate. Then again, when Sony raised the prices in April, it cited “continued pressures” in the market, meaning the rising costs and shortages due to global memory and storage availability. Because of that, no one really knows how long the PlayStation 5 Pro shortage will last, or the related hardware shortages for that matter. It looks like early 2027 would be the earliest those pressures might start to subside.
All of this is just to say that it might be quite some time before we see PS5 hardware prices come down to what many would consider reasonable. Granted, Sony is expected to offer some deals for Black Friday and the coming holidays.
