Sony has introduced a gameplay requirement for Japanese customers seeking to participate in a lottery to purchase a PlayStation 5 Pro, as demand for the console continues to exceed available supply in the country.

According to Sony's Japanese PlayStation blog, customers must have accumulated at least 60 hours of gameplay between September 2024 and September 2026 on their PlayStation Network accounts to qualify for the lottery. The qualifying playtime can come from either PlayStation 4 or PlayStation 5 consoles.

Players who meet the requirement will be eligible to enter the lottery for an opportunity to purchase a PS5 Pro directly from Sony. The company will subsequently notify selected participants who receive the opportunity to buy a console.

If a selected customer does not complete the purchase, the console will instead be made available through a future lottery, giving other eligible players another opportunity to obtain the hardware.The requirement comes as PS5 Pro availability remains constrained in Japan. The original report attributes the supply pressure to ongoing memory shortages, although Sony's lottery system also provides a way to manage demand when the number of interested customers exceeds available consoles.

The 60-hour requirement represents an average of only a small amount of gameplay per week over the two-year qualifying period, meaning regular PlayStation users are more likely to meet it than customers who have rarely used their accounts.Sony has introduced the system as part of its approach to allocating limited PS5 Pro stock in Japan. The requirement also creates an additional barrier for accounts with little or no recent PlayStation activity seeking access to the lottery.The PS5 Pro availability issue comes amid several broader changes to Sony's PlayStation business. The company has faced criticism over its approach to physical media and digital game distribution, while its PlayStation Store has also been the subject of legal scrutiny.

Sony recently settled a lawsuit concerning allegations over digital game pricing, with the company admitting no wrongdoing as part of the settlement. The agreement was valued at nearly $8 million.

Sony has also announced that it will not participate in CES 2027, ending a long-running presence at the annual technology trade show.