Maybe you've read about this if you're into finance or simply if you read about Japan news. Starting October 1, at 08:00 JST, the consumption tax in Japan will rise from 8% to 10%. The Japanese consumption tax is something similar to the value-added tax (VAT) existing in many countries, including my own, France.

The consumption Tax is something influencing nearly every product in Japan, including video games. When a Japanese game gets announced, companies tend to release their price tag without tax included. Hence why if you've following my Japanese games coverage, when I cite a price tag in Yen, I always mention if it's with our without tax included.

As the consumption tax will rise from 8% to 10%, prices on Japanese digital platforms such as the Japanese PlayStation Network will rise as well.

Let's take Persona 5 Royal as an example. On the Japanese PSN, the standard edition is currently at 9,504 Yen, and the Digital Deluxe edition of the game is at 12,744 Yen. Starting October 1 at 08:00 JST, these prices will rise to 9,680 Yen and 12,980 Yen respectively.

Sure, this is only around 200 yen of difference and not a large increase by far, but if you're someone tight on budget, or simply are a sensible person who likes to save up money whenever they can, this doesn't hurt to know. Especially if there are multiple games you currently wish to preorder on the Japanese PSN.

Online shops like Amazon Japan already moved to 10% tax on games as I'm writing this, so don't bother ordering right now if you were planning to import there.

PS4 exclusive Persona 5 Royal launches on October 31 in Japan and in Spring 2020 in the west. You can check the latest gameplay in our previous story.