Summary
- Japanese PS5 rentals are booming due to rising console prices.
- Rental services like GEO offer PS5 for either 6 or 15 days.
- Demand for rental services is high, and stores struggle to keep stock up.
As soon as the topic of renting consoles and games crops up, I feel like an old curmudgeon discussing how things were better “back in my day.” Anyone who remembers renting PlayStation 1 games from their local Blockbuster store would likely feel the same. However, as people shifted from renting games and consoles to purchasing them, rental stores suffered a decline and eventually closed down.
However, it seems they’re not dead forever. As console and game prices skyrocket and people struggle to find the funds to purchase their creature comforts, people are turning to rentals once more. And if you don’t believe me, then allow me to show you the joys of renting a PS5 in Japan and how popular it has become.
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Japan’s PS5 rental services suffer from low stock as their business takes off
Source: eBay
As spotted by VGC, the Japanese website IT Media News published an article on the rise of console rental businesses. The premise is simple: you can pay either ¥980 ($6.62) for six days, or ¥1,780 ($12.02) for 15 days. You then get a PS5 to take home for that amount of time. Once your time is up, you bring the console back to the store, and can rent it out again in the future if you get the hankering again.
It sounds like a good business practice; so good, in fact, that the Japanese retailer GEO is struggling to keep up with demand. They’re all out of consoles, and people have struggled to book their own PS5 because of it. GEO says it’s because they were surprised by the amount of popularity the business model attracted.
If you yearn for the days of rentals again, things are looking up. As GEO said in a statement (machine-translated from Japanese):
“The popularity of local rental shops is declining, but I’d like to remind everyone of the benefits of renting once again in a new format. I’d be happy if people could experience the immediacy of being able to rent on the spot and the benefits that only a brick-and-mortar shop can provide”
PS5 rentals in the US and other countries may be closer than you think, especially after recent trends. After all, Sony has raised the PS5 price in select markets, citing “challenging” conditions. And if gaming gets too pricey, people may opt to borrow instead of owning.
