The price of PlayStation 4 games on PSN — in other words, digital PS4 games on the PlayStation Store — have increased, but thankfully, not everywhere. More specifically, over in Japan, PSN prices are now more pricey. This doesn’t just mean gaming will be more expensive in Japan, at least on PS4, but anyone who imports games digitally from the Japanese PSN, well, you will be paying more for games going forward. In effect as of yesterday, the consumption tax in Japan has increased from 8 percent to 10 percent. In other words, games will be now be 2 percent more expensive on the Japanese PlayStation Store, which isn’t a lot, but 2 percent for every game adds up if you play a lot of games.
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Again, it’s worth noting this tax increase doesn’t just impact Japanese PS4 gamers. Anyone who imports games from the Japanese PlayStation Store will pay this tax as well. Importing games from the Japanese PlayStation Store is far from a mainstream practice, but many hardcore PlayStation gamers do this for the many titles that never make their way west. As you may know, there’s certain genres especially that feature many games that never make the jump across the Pacific, such as JRPGs and visual novel games.
It’s also worth pointing out this consumption tax increase is impacting video games across the board. So, if you decide to import via Amazon or other retailers, well, you’re going to pay the tax there as well.
As you may know, these type of consumption taxes are in enacted all around the world, and have been raising the prices of games for awhile now. On top of different state and sales taxes, some places have special taxes on entertainment, such as Chicago, making games especially expensive.
Anyway, as always, feel free to leave a comment letting us know what you think or, alternatively, hit me up on Twitter @Tyler_Fischer_ and let me know over there. Meanwhile, for more news, media, and information on all things PlayStation 4, be sure to peep all of our past and recent coverage of the console by clicking right here. In the most recent and related news, the DualShock 4 is now playable on all Apple devices. Meanwhile, the launch trailer for Ghost Recon Breakpoint has been revealed.
Thanks, DualShockers.
