Sony Terminates 500GB PlayStation 3 Production In Japan

The standard 500GB model of the PlayStation 3, the only model of the PS3 that remains in the country, is no longer in production.

The official Japanese website for the PlayStation has listed shipments for the 500GB PlayStation 3 as “ended,” according to Gematsu. The gaming console was first released back in November 2006, and has already sold over 80 million units worldwide.

Although the 500GB model of the PS3 appears to have been discontinued in Japan, there’s currently no announcement on its status in the United States or in other major regions. However, this does mean that Sony might already be preparing to completely discontinue the system soon as the PlayStation 4 is the company’s current-generation console.

This is somewhat similar to what happened with Nintendo’s Wii U. Nintendo announced the end of Wii U’s production in Japan back in November 2016, then proceeded to do so in January 2017. This was in preparation for the launch of the Nintendo Switch in March.

To be fair, the Wii U wasn’t all that popular with fans and critics. It failed to find a user base and was easily overshadowed by it rivals. That isn’t really the case with the PS3.

Even after the launch of the PlayStation 4 back in 2014, PlayStation’s software product development head for America Scott Rohde said that people were still buying the PS3. He also said that Sony would continue supporting the system “as long as there is a good business there for us,” according to GameSpot.

Back in April, Sony revealed on its fiscal fourth quarter 2016 earnings report that the sales for the PS3 were already dropping. Sony attributed the decline in PS3 sales due to the popularity of the PlayStation 4, which also received a price cut when the “slim” and Pro models were announced during the quarter. Sony claimed on its earnings report that it had shipped 60 million units of the PS4.

The PS3 system is no longer doing big sales numbers in Japan. In a recent Japanese sales charts, Sony is only selling an average of 300-400 units of the PS3 per week, according to PlayStation LifeStyle.

PlayStation 5 Incoming?

Although sales for the PS3 is down, there might be another reason why it’s being discontinued. Macquarie Capital Securities analyst Damian Thong said that Sony was preparing to launch a new PlayStation system in 2018, according to the Wall Street Journal.

If that turns out to be true, then it does make a lot of sense for Sony to completely let go of the PS3. This would help push the 2018 PlayStation system, while offering the PS4 and PS4 Pro as more affordable options.

The new 2018 console, which is presumed to be called the PlayStation 5, is said to arrive less than a year after Microsoft launches the Project Scorpio console. Project Scorpio will be released by the end of 2017.

It remains uncertain what the PS5 will look like. There’s also no information on whether it will be able to run PS4 titles, or will be completely restricted to playing new releases.