Sony just announced that, thanks to “challenging economic conditions”, the price of the PlayStation 5 is about to go up in loads of big markets like Japan, Europe and Canada.
Indeed, it looks like the US is the only major PlayStation territory to not be seeing a price hike, with buyers everywhere from China to Australia to Mexico also getting slugged.
I’m in Australia, for example, and last year I bought my PS5 disc version at retail for AUD$750. It’s now going to cost AUD$800. In the UK the disc edition is going from £450 to £480, while in the EU it’s going from €500 to €550.
The full list of regions affected, and the new recommended retail prices—which aside from Japan are effective immediately—are below:
Europe
PS5 with Ultra HD Blu-ray disc drive – €549.99PS5 Digital Edition – €449.99
UK
PS5 with Ultra HD Blu-ray disc drive – £479.99PS5 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 $799.95PS5 Digital Edition – AUD $649.95
Mexico
PS5 with Ultra HD Blu-ray disc drive – MXN $14,999PS5 Digital Edition – MXN $12,499
Canada
PS5 with Ultra HD Blu-ray disc drive – CAD $649.99PS5 Digital Edition – CAD $519.99
Sony’s full statement follows:
The global economic environment is a challenge that many of you around the world are no doubt experiencing. We’re seeing high global inflation rates, as well as adverse currency trends, impacting consumers and creating pressure on many industries. Based on these challenging economic conditions, SIE has made the difficult decision to increase the recommended retail price (RRP) of PlayStation 5 in select markets across Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA), Asia-Pacific (APAC), Latin America (LATAM), as well as Canada. There will be no price increase in the United States.
While this price increase is a necessity given the current global economic environment and its impact on SIE’s business, our top priority continues to be improving the PS5 supply situation so that as many players as possible can experience everything that PS5 offers and what’s still to come.
Thank you for your continued support.
The PlayStation 5 launched nearly two years ago, and by now you’d expect consoles to be seeing price cuts, not increases (the PS4, for example, got its first cut in 2015, two years after release). Indeed this is the first time I can ever remember a console’s price going up across the board like this. Then again, I can’t ever remember a console launching in the middle of a pandemic, worldwide chip shortage and inflation crisis either.
