PlayStation 5 gets a price increase in Europe, Japan and parts of North America
Sony blames “high global inflation rates” but the US price will remain unchanged
Sony has announced that the PlayStation 5 will see a price increase of up to 12.5% in numerous countries.
Effective immediately, the price of both the standard PS5 and the PS5 Digital Edition will be raised in Europe, Australia and parts of Asia and North America.
However, there will be no price increase in the United States.
Sony says the price increase is due to high global inflation rates.
The new prices are as follows, effective immediately:
Europe
- PS5 – €549.99 (was €499.99)
- PS5 Digital – €449.99 (was €399.99)
UK
- PS5 – £479.99 (was £449.99)
- PS5 Digital – £389.99 (was £359.99)
Japan (effective September 15)
- PS5 – ¥60,478 yen (was ¥54,978)
- PS5 Digital – ¥49,478 yen (was ¥43,978)
China
- PS5 – ¥4,299 yuan (was ¥3,899 yuan)
- PS5 Digital – ¥3,499 yuan (was ¥3,099 yuan)
Australia
- PS5 – AUD $799.95 (was $749.95)
- PS5 Digital – AUD $649.95 (was $599.95)
Mexico
- PS5 – MXN $14,999 (was $13,999)
- PS5 Digital – MXN $12,499 (was $11,499)
Canada
- PS5 – CAD $649.99 (was $629.99)
- PS5 Digital – CAD $519.99 (was $499.99)
Sony also notes that select markets in the EMEA, APAC and LATAM regions may also see price increases, but hasn’t listed them in detail.
In a statement on the PlayStation Blog, SIE president and CEO Jim Ryan said: “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, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, 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.”
Responding to today’s news, Piers Harding-Rolls, Ampere’s research director for games, predicted that pent-up demand for Sony’s console means the PS5 price increase is likely to have “a minimal impact on sales”.
In April Sony raised the Japanese prices of a range of consumer electronics products including some cameras, Blu-ray players, home theatre systems, headphones and speakers.
It said the price revisions were being made in light of the ongoing semiconductor shortage and other external factors that have caused the cost of raw materials, manufacturing and distribution to increase.
Further reading
Analyst predicts PS5 price increase ‘will have minimal impact on sales’
Last month, during its first quarter earnings call, Sony refused to be drawn on whether it would raise the price of the PS5 in the face of similar market pressures.
“About a potential price increase for the PS5, at this point in time there is nothing specific I can share with you about prices”, executive deputy president and chief financial officer Hiroki Totoki said at the time.
Earlier this month Nintendo claimed that it doesn’t currently plan to raise Switch prices in Japan, despite a weak yen causing other tech companies like Apple to do so.
The company told Bloomberg that it wasn’t planning to make its hardware more expensive, while Microsoft declined to comment.
