Sony has increasingly found themselves in hot water this August, and the ire among fans has only increased due to the PS5’s latest price increase. Earlier today, Sony announced that the PS5’s price would be increasing in select markets due to the current state of the global market via blog post. The announcement unsurprisingly upset fans and Sony’s reasoning behind the move has made many question whether they still want to buy a PS5 at all.
In the blog post, Sony stated that “high global inflation rates” and “adverse currency trends” were one of the reasons that they made this move. Daniel Ahmad, Senior Analyst at Niko Partners, summed up the situation in a small thread of tweets. Due to the current global economic situation not only are inflation rates and currency trends a problem, Daniel sited that the cost of manufacturing and distribution has “increased across the board.” These factors have led the PlayStation 5 in select markets across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, and Canada. Interestingly, the price increase will not include the United States.
Listed below are the new retail prices for the PS5 announced from the blog post:
- Europe
- PS5 with Ultra HD Blu-ray disc drive – €549.99
- PS5 Digital Edition – €449.99
- UK
- PS5 with Ultra HD Blu-ray disc drive – £479.99
- PS5 Digital Edition – £389.99
- Japan (effective Sept. 15, 2022)
- PS5 with Ultra HD Blu-ray disc drive – ¥60,478 yen (including tax)
- PS5 Digital Edition – ¥49,478 yen (including tax)
- China
- PS5 with Ultra HD Blu-ray disc drive – ¥4,299 yuan
- PS5 Digital Edition – ¥3,499 yuan
- Australia
- PS5 with Ultra HD Blu-ray disc drive – AUD $799.95
- PS5 Digital Edition – AUD $649.95
- Mexico
- PS5 with Ultra HD Blu-ray disc drive – MXN $14,999
- PS5 Digital Edition – MXN $12,499
- Canada
- PS5 with Ultra HD Blu-ray disc drive – CAD $649.99
- PS5 Digital Edition – CAD $519.99
For many fans Sony has taken a major misstep with this decision. Inflation increased prices for everyday necessities, and while it is understandable for gaming consoles to be more than dirt cheap, the common consumer should be able to get their hands on one without going bankrupt. This decision could potentially have the undesirable effect of fans flocking to other platforms with cheaper alternatives.