Sony wants 60 hours on the clock before you can buy a PS5 Pro in Japan
Sony's Japanese store is running a lottery for PS5 Pro stock, and entering requires a Japanese PSN account plus at least 60 hours of PS4 or PS5 playtime over the past two years.
Buying a PS5 Pro in Japan now comes with a homework check. Sony announced on September 28 via the official PlayStation Japan account that stock at its own store is being allocated through an application system, and not everyone qualifies to apply.
The requirements
To enter, you need a PSN account registered in Japan and at least 60 hours of recorded PS4 or PS5 playtime between September 27, 2024 and September 27, 2026. Applications run until October 7. If more people apply than there are consoles, Sony runs a lottery. Sales start October 26, and winners have until November 2 to complete the purchase. The console is listed at 137,980 yen.
What Sony did and didn't say
Sony has not described the playtime rule as an anti-scalping measure, and its announcement sticks to the mechanics rather than the motive. The practical effect is hard to miss, though: a fresh account created to flip hardware can't clear a two-year, 60-hour play history, and neither can a visitor without a Japanese account.
Japan has had a persistent PS5 supply and resale problem, and Sony has previously used purchase invitations tied to PSN activity for standard PS5 stock. This is a stricter version of the same idea.
Why it matters
It's one of the most aggressive hardware-allocation rules a platform holder has put in front of buyers, and if it works in Japan it's the kind of thing that tends to travel to other regions.
Why it matters
Console scalping has shaped every PlayStation launch this generation, and Sony gating stock behind proven play history is a notably blunt attempt to fix it.