Sony Interactive Entertainment president and CEO Jim Ryan has announced on the PlayStation Blog that PlayStation 5 consoles are increasing in price in most territories, due to “challenging economic conditions”.
It’s the latest in a series of logistical issues that the PlayStation 5 has encountered since its launch in November 2020 — mostly centered on demand outstripping supply due to global semiconductor shortages.
The problem this time relates to financial pressures. At present there’s a rather bleak global economic outlook, with the specter of recession looming, along with high inflation rates, high fuel prices, increasing interest rates, and volatile exchange rates.
With this in mind, the PlayStation 5 has become more expensive to manufacture and distribute. It’s likely the console is once again being sold at a loss, as it was in the first few months of its life.
SIE’s response to this is to increase the price of the console by up to an eighth in most territories, with only the United States among the major markets for the PS5 that isn’t seeing a price hike.
The new recommended retail prices are as follows:
Europe
- PS5 – €549.99 (+10%)
- PS5 Digital Edition – €449.99 (+12.5%)
UK
- PS5 – £479.99 (+6.6%)
- PS5 Digital Edition – £389.99 (+8.3%)
Canada
- PS5 – CAD $649.99 (+3.2%)
- PS5 Digital Edition – CAD $519.99 (+4%)
Australia
- PS5 – AUD $799.95 (+6.7%)
- PS5 Digital Edition – AUD $649.95 (+8.3%)
Japan
- PS5 – ¥60,478 (+9%)
- PS5 Digital Edition – ¥49,478 yen (+11.1%)
These pricings are effective immediately, with the exception of Japan which will only see prices rise from September 15, and likely already reflected in any games stores or websites that do have stock to sell.
Ryan goes on to state that the price increase is “a necessity”, but reiterates the company’s objective to improve the PlayStation 5 supply in order to get as many consoles out to end users as possible.
After promising early sales figures, in which the PS5 was keeping up with the record-breaking pace of the PS4, shortages have seen it stagnate. It took three months longer than PS4 to hit 20 million consoles sold — albeit sell-through to consumers rather than sell-in to retailers — with the latest figures showing 21.7 million PS5s out in the world.
Microsoft and Nintendo have responded to Sony’s announcement by confirming their consoles will remain at their original launch prices for the foreseeable future.
See more articles on PlayStation 5.
