Microsoft started it with price increases for their Xbox Series consoles, Nintendo followed suit for the most part, and it’s now coming back around to Sony.
After raising its prices in select countries earlier this year, Sony has confirmed this morning it is raising the prices of all three of its currently-being-made PlayStation 5 models. That includes the Digital Edition, the one with a disc drive, and the Pro model, which does not have a disc drive.
- PlayStation 5 – $549.99
- PlayStation 5 Digital Edition – $499.99
- PlayStation 5 Pro – $749.99
A $50 price increase across the board, and technically $100 for the Digital Edition if we’re keeping track from its November 2020 launch price (it had a Slim revision that brought with it a price increase, but the option to add a disc drive down the line). Sony cites it’s a result of the company having to navigate a “challenging economic environment” and that its similar to many global businesses. With President Trump’s increased push into utilizing tariffs, it seemed like a possibility this could happen, especially as Sony attempted to delay the inevitable by raising its prices of its consoles across the world earlier this year. Its still nearly, if not unprecedented for a video game console to have its price go upward after launch, let alone years after.
Nintendo raised the price of its original Nintendo Switch, which launched in March 2017, a $40 price increase earlier this month. The company also raised the price of numerous accessories and other Switch models, including the Lite and OLED models, but not the Switch 2 itself nor its games. Nintendo said its decision to increase prices was “based on market conditions,” and it came after Canada had the same thing happen to them.
Microsoft earlier this year raised its Xbox Series X console by $100, bringing it to a $599.99 price point, along with increasing the Series S cost to $379.99, an $80 increase. Numerous other accessories and controllers also went up.
With these price increases, the dream of expecting lower prices for these consoles before the next generation of platforms release seems to be fading. For the original Switch to have received a price jump was already a shock considering it never had a price drop, but with Sony finally jumping on board with increasing prices, we can only imagine how newer platforms will be impacted by price expectations going forward.
