Sony has increased the price of the PS5 in several regions
While consumers are already feeling the effects of rising inflation, Sony has hiked the price of the PS5 in multiple regions. The UK, Australia, Europe, and other markets are raising the retail price of the PS5 and PS5 Digital Edition. Sony announced the revised prices in a blog post(opens in a new tab), with immediate effect (except in the United States, where the console will remain at its current price). The timing of the price increase is terrible because inflation rates are on the rise around the world. As costs continue to rise, consumers are discovering that their dollars go further than in the past. The cost of living crisis only makes matters worse in the UK.
The PS5 price hike may be the deciding factor that puts the console out of reach for many prospective PlayStation owners. Furthermore, this is the most recent instance of a multinational technology firm passing on the cost of inflation to its customers. Due to increases in material and labor costs, Meta increased the price of the Oculus Quest 2 by $100 (or £100; or AU$150) last month. Before that, Amazon raised the price of an annual UK Amazon Prime membership by 20%, citing inflation and rising operating costs.
In the meantime, Microsoft has not announced any plans to increase the cost of the Xbox Series X|S. The company’s main console has also been experiencing stock shortages, but the more affordable Xbox Series S has been much simpler to get and has even gone on sale several times. The cheaper and easier-to-produce nature of the system, thanks to its inferior chipset, may prevent a sudden surge in price. If this turns out to be the case, the digital Xbox system will have a lot more going for it than ever before. When you consider Xbox Game Pass and the trick that allows you to subscribe at a discounted price, Microsoft’s second new-gen console remains to be a fantastic deal when compared to Sony’s offerings.
Nintendo announced earlier this month that it had no plans to increase the Switch’s price. President Shuntaro Furukawa told Nikkei(opens in new tab) the company hoped to “avoid pricing people out,” despite falling sales of the portable game system. Those who have already purchased a PS5 will be glad they did so, but the price of the newly announced PS5 pro controller may come as a surprise. It’s safe to assume the new controller won’t come cheap after this price increase.
These are the new PS5 prices:
- UK
- PS5 – £479.99 (a £30 increase from £449.99)
- PS5 Digital Edition – £389.99 (a £30 increase from £359.99)
- Australia
- PS5 – AU$799.95 (a AU$50 increase from AU$749.95)
- PS5 Digital Edition – AU$649.95 (a AU$50 increase from AU$599.95
- Europe:
- PS5 – €549.99 (previously €499.99)
- PS5 Digital Edition – €449.99 (previously €399.99)
- Canada:
- PS5 – CA$649.99 (previously $629.99)
- PS5 Digital Edition – CA$519.99 (previously $499.99)
- Japan (effective Sept. 15, 2022):
- PS5 – ¥60,478 yen (previously ¥49,980 yen)
- PS5 Digital Edition – ¥49,478 yen (previously ¥39,980 yen)
- China:
- PS5 – ¥4,299 yuan (previously ¥3,899 yuan)
- PS5 Digital Edition – ¥3,499 yuan (previously ¥3,099 yuan)
- Mexico:
- PS5 – MXN $14,999 (previously MXN $13,999)
- PS5 Digital Edition – MXN $12,499 (previously MXN $11,499)