IThe global economy’s challenges over the past few months are no secret that it is facing problems, especially in the wake of tariffs that affect the countries in which consoles, GPUs and other goods are manufactured. That sense of inevitability and anxiety has finally announced that Sony will see US prices rise due to a “challenging economic environment.”
The Base PlayStation 5, which was previously $500 (previously $500), is $550, while the digital version moves from $450 to $500. The PS5 Pro was initially considered a $700 Skidic proposal (and is a little less after fans get practical), so it costs $750. Remember that every meme about the pro actually costs $810 when considered with vertical stands and standalone disk drives? Now we’re close to the $900 range and somehow make our high-end PC look even more appealing.
If it’s comforting, the accessory prices remain the same, and Sony “will not “no other price changes to announce in additional markets.” Until I remember that the costs of consoles and accessories in Japan have already increased last year, this is good. Prices also rose in Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Africa and the Middle East in April last year. In some regions, the base console and the PS5 Pro escaped leaving the same price, but honestly, I don’t think it will last long.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uf-qvbs70uk
A conventional practice is to ask, “What the heck is that?” Given that the PS5 shipped 80.3 million units as of June 30, it’s hard not to wonder why extra scratching is necessary, as console leaders of the current generation are dominant. The answer relates to the future, not the present success. After all, back in May, we estimated that tariffs would have an impact on operating profits of around $650 million.
President and CEO Totoki broached the theme of moving console production to the US, even if prices didn’t rise. Whether it’s still a strategy or not, it takes time to set up and roll. If Sony expects a long sales tail on the PS5, that probably makes sense, but more than anything, it could be the inevitable PS6 preparation (if you believe the leak, this is very much in the work).
The rest of my frustration turns to resignation, considering Sony is the last console maker folded. Nintendo delayed the Switch 2 pre-order until they were able to announce new prices for accessories, but there was no guarantee that this would be the only hike. Xbox followed suit quickly, but in a much smoother way. $500 for the Xbox Series X with a disk drive? Try $600. The Xbox Series S 1 TB is currently at $429.99. All of this as Xbox hardware continues to drop each quarter, but despite Microsoft delaying delaying its announcement of prices in order to “try to find the right balance between affordable prices and prices,” the Rog Xbox Ally and Ally X certainly fix things.
Ah, and Nintendo finally came back and raised the price of the Switch 1 in Canada and the US. They’re not the biggest jumps, but the $400 Switch OLED is certainly an option.
Say what you do about understanding the business side of things. However, Sony can fund some failed live service titles and cancel them and release more, but this impact can be drawn on operating profits in footing. At this point, Nintendo doesn’t really care. It could ask for a higher price almost anything and people can pay the nose (see the success of Mario Kart Worlddespite the cost of $80).
The fact that Switch supports but receives price increases is peak capitalism. Praise to Microsoft for backtracking the $80 price for first-party titles, especially if you remember that Game Pass is a thing. Why pay so much in the world? Outer World 2especially when you buy and hold Clear Forever, and put the rest of your money into a few months’ game pass and play a lot of other titles?
Now you probably think this isn’t the problem. Especially if many people already own a PS5 or switch 2, or two switch 2. However, even if tariffs are normalized in the future, there is no guarantee that this is not a future precedent. Why do Switch 2 and PS5 Pro get much more expensive than their predecessor/base console? At this point, we know that either company has ride-or-difans, hooks, lines and sinkers, and the competition is not as attractive as it justifies newcomers spend on them (Xbox still went up prices and increased prices).
If the gaming industry taught me something, big companies would overcome any trends as long as they could make more money or save them. Even Microsoft and EA have stepped back from adopting a $80 price model, and Sony hasn’t even suggested they’ll get closer to it. But remember how quickly each adopted the $70 price range a few years ago. While video games may have been immunized with all-time inflation before (mostly) all-time before, publishers have tried to add more revenue with the deluxe edition, microtransactions, loot boxes and advanced access.
There’s no reason to think that the next Xbox or PS6 doesn’t have a much higher price than its predecessor. I would be surprised if they didn’t find a way to take pages from Nintendo books and accessorize them even more for more revenue (or find other ways like 8k/120 fps to encourage consumers to spend). And I could sit here with millions of other people and say, “Well, at least I got my PS5 when it was cheap,” but we’re all going to pay more for future hardware. If your console is broken and isn’t within the warranty, enjoy having to sort out those costs or pick up new costs completely.
All of this helps exacerbate the decline in console hardware sales in the US, along with rising costs for other amenities. At the time of massive layoffs and relative stagnation, video game spending has dropped by almost 25% in regions between the ages of 18 and 24, making games becoming a premium product. This means further commitment to existing libraries and increased success between mobile and free to play games. The bright side is that there are fewer titles with fewer penalties in the price range. peakthey perform beyond expectations (although it doesn’t hurt that it’s a great game).
Of course, that has nothing to do with manufacturers like Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo, etc. For companies like Take-Two, EA, and Ubisoft, the list goes on. Perhaps the console market will survive the storm. Perhaps Microsoft will fire tens of thousands of employees and let AI take their jobs out of little real profits on large investments.
Nintendo can continue his cruise based on the success of the Switch 2 smash, but all the good things end up in the end. Sony is cruised in a different sense, and may have adopted a holding pattern as long as possible to please shareholders (although perhaps even accelerated the plans of third-party people with these rumors). Because, if nothing else, it goes far beyond providing loyal players with consistently high quality exclusives or worrying about whether they can afford their products.
There have been so many exciting announcements during Gamescom Week (Silkson Very realistic, I couldn’t be happy), the price hike on the PS5 feels like a sober reminder of the current. Things can always get worse, but if 2025 stops accepting it as a new challenge, I’d appreciate it.
Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent GamingBolt’s views as an organization.
(TagStoTRASSLATE) PS5 (T) PS5 Pro (T) Sony
