Earlier today, rumors about PS4 production in Japan began to circulate, claiming that Sony had discontinued the production of the vast majority of PS4 models in its home country. Now, it seems, we have confirmation that Sony actually made that decision, as the company updated its own website to reflect the changes. Although the PlayStation 4 will not disappear entirely, it appears that the PS4 product line will be significantly reduced.
According to the Japanese website GAME Watch (via Gematsu), Sony announced that almost all models of the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 4 Pro have been discontinued, except for one: the standard 500GB model PS4 Slim in Jet Black. All PlayStation Pro models are gone, along with Glacier White PS4 Slim and 1 TB PS4 Slim models. As soon as the current stock of all these models is sold, ready. GAME Watch shared screenshots from Sony’s Japanese website that reflect these changes.
In fact, by visiting the PlayStation Store on Sony’s Japanese website ourselves, the only PS4 model listed is the 500GB model, although it is important to note that at the time of writing, this model is still available in Glacier White beyond of Jet Black. For now, it looks like there has been no such announcement of any discontinued PS4 models here in the US or Europe, but that may be a sign of things to come.
While Sony’s decision to discontinue most PS4 models may seem a little hasty, since we are only two months away from the PlayStation 5 launch, it makes some sense. After all, while Sony will continue to support the PlayStation 4 for many years to come, it obviously also wants players to migrate to the PlayStation 5, so focusing the PS4 line on just one basic model can help encourage that.
GAME Watch also notes that the production lines that were dedicated to producing these now canceled PS4 and PS4 Pros will be put into production on the PlayStation 5, which needs all the help possible at the moment. We’ll see if similar ads are made for PlayStation 4 in the U.S. and Europe, so stay tuned for more.