Since the RAM shortage seems to be neverending, PlayStation has had no choice but to separate the Real Gamers from the boys while preparing its PS5 Pro lottery system in Japan. Anyone who participates will be required to have at least 60 hours of playtime on their Sony account since 2024.
Video game industry update account Genki translates a Japanese PlayStation blog that went live on September 27, explaining that “PS5 Pro is also facing stock shortages in Japan.” The latest GTA 6 reveal in August decimated PS5 Pro stock here in the US, and scalpers worldwide are responding by pricing the upgraded console as nefariously as possible.
So, according to a machine translated version of PlayStation’s blog, only those with at least 60 hours of playtime on PS5 or PS4, or both, earned between September 27, 2024 and September 27, 2026 can purchase a PS5 Pro through its lottery system. This modest proof of being a Real Gamer will also need to be reflected on your online Sony account.
Eligible gamers in Japan can apply to purchase a PS5 Pro now through Wednesday, October 7, and Sony will start notifying “winners” (winners of the chance to spend 137,980 yen, slightly less than the PS5 Pro’s $900 price tag in the US) on October 26.
Act fast. PlayStation is also enforcing a deadline for lottery winners to swipe their credit card – PS5 Pros need to be bought by November 2, or else successful lottery spots gets thrown back into a re-draw scheduled to happen later this year.
The whole thing is giving global PlayStation fans some ideas.
“I hope this is what they do for the eventual PS6 release,” says a top comment in a related Reddit thread. Since these console shortages are more about missing parts than players clamoring to spend all their money on a machine that can’t even play discs, PlayStation might have to, no matter what you think of it.