PlayStation 4 will not restrict games from other regions, Sony has announced, in another move that will be seen as an advantage for the company's next generation platform.

It means you could buy a cheaper PlayStation 4 from Japan or North America and play European PS4 games on it with no problems.

The PS4's US price is $399, for example, about £256. That's a big saving on the system's £349 UK price, even including shipping fees, and a huge reduction on the Xbox One's £429.

PlayStation exec Shuhei Yoshida confirmed the news via Twitter this morning, just hours after his appearance on stage at E3.

And yes, PS4 is region free :D — Shuhei Yoshida (@yosp) June 11, 2013

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The PlayStation 3 is also region-free, of course, although most other platforms are not.

Like Xbox and Xbox 360, Microsoft's Xbox One is region-locked, another point of difference between it and PlayStation 4.

Sony last night announced it would also not restrict the sale or use of second-hand PlayStation games or force users to connect like their console online.