PS5 has sold out in Japan with no more stock expected at launch

By Hirun Cryer
published

Japan had a lottery-based pre-order system for the PS5

PS5
(Image credit: Sony PlayStation)

The PS5 has completely sold out in Japan, Sony just announced earlier today.

The announcement was made through the PlayStation Blog (and translated by VGC), and states that "due to the high interest and many orders from users, the launch is sold out by the reserved amount." Whereas it was a first come, first served system for PS5 pre-orders in the west, pre-orders were based on a lottery system in Japan, with only those lucky enough to get a winning ticket being able to put down a pre-order.

Additionally, Sony won't be hosting in-person events to sell the next-gen console in Japan. "While there are still concerns about the spread of the coronavirus, we do not plan to hold events or sell PS5 at stores on the day of PS5 release in order to ensure the safety of customers, retailers, and staff," the blog post reads.

Sony is expecting some pretty big sales numbers from the PS5 in its first few months on the market. Earlier this year, PlayStation boss Jim Ryan says he expects the PS5 to outsell the PS4 within its first four months on the market, which leaves the next-gen console with plenty of units to ship, considering the latter console sold over 7 million units within four months.

Additionally, Sony aims for the PS5 to sell over 100 million units within the console's total lifetime on the market. That might sound like a near-impossible feat, but every Sony console in history has actually achieved this figure, with the exception of the PS3, which ended its run at 87.4 million sales as of March 2017.

Where to pre-order PS5

For a complete list of the games you can expect to play on Sony's next-gen console from day one, check out our PS5 launch games guide for more.

Hirun Cryer
Hirun Cryer

Hirun Cryer is a freelance reporter and writer with Gamesradar+ based out of U.K. After earning a degree in American History specializing in journalism, cinema, literature, and history, he stepped into the games writing world, with a focus on shooters, indie games, and RPGs, and has since been the recipient of the MCV 30 Under 30 award for 2021. In his spare time he freelances with other outlets around the industry, practices Japanese, and enjoys contemporary manga and anime.