Sony’s PlayStation 5 has been in the works for years, and it finally released on November 15th. The new console is more powerful than its predecessors, but some countries are seeing a price increase for the PlayStation 5. In the United States, the PlayStation 5 costs $399.99. However, in Australia it costs $449.95, and in Canada it costs $449.99. Sony has not released a statement about why these prices have increased, but some speculate that it may be due to taxes or import fees. Some people are unhappy with the price increase because they feel that Sony is trying to force them to buy the new console. Others are happy because they can now afford to buy a PlayStation 5 and don’t have to worry about money anymore. ..

Sony has announced that the PlayStation 5 will see a major price increase in a handful of markets. Most notably, the price hike will impact Europe, the United Kingdom, Canada, China, Australia, Mexico, and the company’s home market of Japan. Across these markets, both the Digital Edition and the version with a disc drive are going up between 5% to 12.5% in price.

The reasoning behind that decision? Sony says that high global inflation rates, adverse currency trends, and, in general, increasingly challenging economic circumstances forced it to bump prices up.

It also seems to be alone in this decision, at least for now. Both Microsoft and Nintendo, its main competitors, reassured customers that their prices wouldn’t go up in the hours following the news. Microsoft said to Windows Central that “our Xbox Series S suggested retail price remains at $299 (£250, €300) the Xbox Series X is $499 (£450, €500).” Nintendo, on the other hand, confirmed to Eurogamer that it had “no plans to increase the trade price of its hardware.”

It’s important to note that the console’s prices are not going up in the United States just yet, where the digital and disc drive-equipped versions are $399 and $499, respectively. However, inflation and other economic woes have also heavily impacted the US. Other pieces of hardware, like Meta’s Quest 2, have gone up in price stateside as a result. So while prices aren’t going up right now for American folks, we can’t throw that possibility out of the window.

Sony’s price hikes are effective immediately everywhere except in Japan, where the new prices will go into effect on September 15th.

Source: Sony, Windows Central, Eurogamer