PS5 30th Anniversary Pre-Orders Have A Lot More Scalper Protection In Japan

The PlayStation 5 30th Anniversary pre-orders were a bit of a mess last week, at least in the U.S. and some other regions. But Sony seems to be taking a smart tack with fans in Japan, introducing additional requirements for determining who can buy stuff, limiting PS1-style consoles and accessories to only those who have played at least 30 hours on their PSN account in the past 10 years.

The details are laid out on the PlayStation Japan website overview for the PlayStation 30th Anniversary Collection pre-orders. To be eligible to buy anything from the retro-looking PS5 to the DualShock-inspired DualSense, users in Japan will have to have played either their PS4 or PS5 at least a little bit in the last 10 years. “The total time that either the PS5 or PS4, or both, is turned on for more than 30 hours in total between Saturday, February 22, 2014 and Thursday, September 19, 2024 at 23:59 while signed in with the Sony account to apply,” the company states.

In addition, players there have until October 14 to enter to pre-order stuff. If those attempts outstrip available inventory, which they quickly did in every other territory including the U.S., UK, and Australia, users will automatically be entered into a lottery. That’s one way to deal with scalpers flooding eBay and other resellers with ridiculously overpriced PS5 30th anniversary pre-orders.

It sounds like a much more relaxed and fair system than what fans in the U.S. encountered where people all scrambled at the same time to get into an online queue only to then be chosen at random to enter the PlayStation Store. Most of the pre-orders seemed to already be sold out by the time most of the potential buyers arrived.

It left a sour taste in some people’s mouths, replacing the celebration of PlayStation’s past with an intense feeling of FOMO for some. It’s unclear how much stock will still be available later this month or at launch from third-party retailers, or if Sony will decide to manufacture more PS1-style gear after seeing how much demand there is for it.