A new PS5 console will launch on the same day as GTA 6, but it’s region-locked to a specific country.
Sony hasn’t yet announced a PlayStation 5 console bundle for GTA 6, and it’s leaving it a bit late to do so, but it is planning to launch a new console variant on the same day in Japan.
As announced on the PlayStation Blog, Sony will release a PlayStation 5 Digital Edition Midnight Black console on November 19, 2026. On the same day, a Midnight Black disc drive will be released to attach to the console.
However, this console is a Japan-only release, which means it’s region-locked and can only be accessed by PlayStation Network accounts registered in the country.
This Midnight Black console costs 55,000 yen (£262), while the standalone disc drive costs 11,980 yen (£57), so it’s significantly cheaper than the current £519.99 UK price for the region-free PlayStation 5 Digital Edition.
It’s unclear if this Midnight Black console will be launched outside of Japan, but you can buy Midnight Black covers for your current PlayStation 5 for £44.99 in the West, so it might be a Japan-only incentive.
Want GTA 6 news?
Sign up to the GameCentral newsletter for the latest GTA 6 news, reviews of new games you should play and exclusive analysis of the biggest stories of the week.
Sony first launched a Japan-only PlayStation 5 console in November 2025. It was designed to drive sales in Japan to help offset the worldwide price increases, by selling it at a loss in the country.
As confirmed by PlayStation CEO Hideaki Nishino, it was also to stop people outside of Japan from importing the console at a cheaper price.
Speaking to Famitsu (via machine translation) last year, Nishino said: ‘We were aware that, due to exchange rate fluctuations, there was a trend of PS5 consoles being exported from Japan to overseas markets. Given this situation, we decided that it was crucial to ensure that the PlayStation 5 was delivered properly to our Japanese customers.’
In the same blog post, Sony also reiterated its decision to stop producing physical discs after 2027, suggesting there are no plans to reverse it.
‘PlayStation games released from January 2028 onwards will only be sold as digital versions from PlayStation Store and other retailers,’ the blog reads. ‘Disc versions of games released before January 2028 will continue to be playable.’
The timing around GTA 6 is no accident, as Sony is clearly hoping Rockstar’s epic will drive PlayStation 5 console sales over the Christmas period. That makes the lack of any console bundle so far odd, but it could still be announced in the run-up to launch.
However, it’s possible that Sony fears it won’t have enough stock, due to the component crisis. Although that doesn’t quite explain this new Japanese edition.
While there’s no GTA 6-themed PlayStation 5 console yet, there is a special DualSense controller which is also set to launch on November 19, 2026.
Email gamecentral@metro.co.uk, leave a comment below, follow us on Twitter.
To submit Inbox letters and Reader’s Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use our Submit Stuff page here.
For more stories like this, check our Gaming page.