Sony Group introduced for the first time a PlayStation 5 solely for gamers in Japan, reducing the price by about 25% in an attempt to better compete with Nintendo¡¯s similar Switch 2 model.

The region-locked PlayStation 5 Digital Edition will cost ?55,000 ($357), Tokyo-based Sony announced Wednesday via a live stream. That¡¯s significantly below the previous price of ?72,980 and much cheaper than the offering in the U.S. at $499. It will be available for order on Thursday and goes on sale Nov. 21.

¡°We would like many players in Japan to enjoy the PS5 and its great lineup of games,¡± Hideaki Nishino, chief executive officer of Sony Interactive Entertainment, said during the online program announcing the product.

Ghost of Yotei, one of Sony¡¯s marquee PS5 exclusives, sold 3.3 million copies globally in the first month after its Oct. 2 launch, the company said in announcing its earnings a day earlier.

Nintendo, Sony¡¯s console-making rival, took a similar approach with a more affordable Japan-only, Japanese-language edition of the new Switch 2 console. Released alongside the international versions, that home-market model contributed to the Nintendo console having the fastest-ever launch sales in the industry¡¯s history.

Sony¡¯s price cut surprised consumers, coming not long after the entertainment giant was forced to raise prices of the PlayStation 5 around the world due to U.S. tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump. Sony has also said it¡¯s trying this year to balance profitability with its hardware strategy.

Japan has been a tough market for the PlayStation platform over the past few generations, as Nintendo continues to dominate there. Sony¡¯s move marks a gesture of fan service to the domestic audience and may be setting it up in a better position ahead of its next-generation PlayStation hardware¡¯s launch in the coming years.