Sony Ends Most PlayStation 4 Production in Japan

Sony has discontinued most PlayStation 4 production in Japan, Game Watch Impress recently reported, leaving the standard Slim PlayStation 4 (500 GB) as the only PS4 still in production. The PS4 Pro and launch PS4 models will no longer be made, as Sony shifts its attention to increasing PlayStation 5 production.

While Sony is only discontinuing PlayStation 4 production in Japan for now, it’s only a matter of time until PS4 production gradually halts in the West as well.

It’s perhaps unsurprising to see Sony shift attention to PS5 production so soon in Japan. As GamesIndustry.biz Japan reported, the PlayStation 5 is Sony’s second-worst console launch in the country.

That’s partly from a perceived lack of interest in the Japanese market, but also because Sony allocated fewer console units for sale there thanks to COVID-19 related manufacturing problems.

Of course, Japan isn’t the only market finding it difficult to buy a PlayStation 5. Sony’s high-tech next-gen console remains out of stock at most major retailers in the U.S. and U.K., with periodic restocks that sell out faster than Astro can look adorable, which is very fast.

With a host of new PlayStation 5 games on the way in 2021, including Horizon: Forbidden West, Returnal, and the PS5 exclusive Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart, hopefully the end of PlayStation 4 production means the PS5 stock situation gets better sooner rather than later.

[Source: Game Watch Impress]