If you haven’t managed to snag the much coveted PS5 yet, even though the damn thing’s been out for nearing two years, you won’t be happy to learn that it will now cost you even more to snag one if you happen to live outside the U.S.
Sony Interactive CEO Jim Ryan announced in a Thursday blog post that the company is bumping up the price of its PlayStation 5 in select markets across the globe, which pretty much amounts to every major market for video games save for the good ol’ US of A, South Korea and Brazil.
The price has jumped in Europe, the UK, Japan, China, Australia, Mexico, and Canada, though the specific amount of the hike depends on where you live. Europe has been hit with a near-10% increase while the price for Japanese PlayStation consoles will rise by 21%. The price increases for Japan will go into effect starting on Sept. 15, while the rest are already live. Read below for a complete breakdown of the price increases.
- Europe (€50)
PS5 with disc drive – €549.99; PS5 Digital Edition – €449.99
- UK (£30)
PS5 with disc drive – £479.99; PS5 Digital Edition – £389.99
- Japan (¥5,000)
PS5 with disc drive – ¥60,478 yen; PS5 Digital Edition – ¥49,478 yen
- China (¥400)
PS5 with disc drive – ¥4,299 yuan; PS5 Digital Edition – ¥3,499 yuan
- Australia ($US50 ($69))
PS5 with disc drive – AUD $US799.95 ($1,110); PS5 Digital Edition – AUD $US649.95 ($902)
- Mexico (MXN 1,000)
PS5 with disc drive – MXN $US14,999 ($20,822); PS5 Digital Edition – MXN $US12,499 ($17,351)
- Canada ($US20 ($28))
PS5 with disc drive – CAD $US649.99 ($902); PS5 Digital Edition – CAD $US519.99 ($722)
The Sony Interactive CEO said the new prices reflect the “high global inflation rates, as well as adverse currency trends.”
Sony’s most recent quarterly earnings report mentioned that while it wasn’t changing its expectations of 18 million unit sales for the fiscal year, gameplay time among users declined 15% year over year, which was “a much lower level of engagement than we anticipated.” The way to defeat this, the company said, is to release major first party titles. Sony was optimistic with shareholders that since factory lockdowns in Shanghai were coming to an end, it could rapidly increase production. Still, nothing in its quarterly earnings report mentioned any anticipated price increases.
Despite the price increases, Ryan said in his recent blog post Sony’s main ambition remains getting more PS5s out onto the market. Microsoft currently still sells its Xbox Series X for $US500 ($694) in the U.S., £449 in the UK, $US749 ($1,040) in Australia, and so on.
Sony’s not the only hardware maker to announce price increases as of late. Meta made the sudden announcement last month it was bumping up the price of the Oculus Quest 2 by $US100 ($139) for both the 128GB and 256GB versions.