With the Russo-Ukrainian war still raging on and the world as a whole still not fully recovered from the pandemic, it seems that it’s only a matter of time before we start to see these issues affect the video game industry. Sony PlayStation appeared to be hit harder than most other major publishers, as the company announced yesterday that it will be implementing a PS5 price increase in certain regions, with seven locations in total being affected by the significant hike.
Here is a complete list of all the regions affected, as well as the new prices of the consoles in each region:
- PS5 with Ultra HD Blu-ray disc drive – €549.99
- PS5 Digital Edition – €449.99
- PS5 with Ultra HD Blu-ray disc drive – £479.99
- PS5 Digital Edition – £389.99
- PS5 with Ultra HD Blu-ray disc drive – ¥60,478 yen (including tax)
- PS5 Digital Edition – ¥49,478 yen (including tax)
- PS5 with Ultra HD Blu-ray disc drive – ¥4,299 yuan
- PS5 Digital Edition – ¥3,499 yuan
- PS5 with Ultra HD Blu-ray disc drive – AUD $799.95
- PS5 Digital Edition – AUD $649.95
- PS5 with Ultra HD Blu-ray disc drive – MXN $14,999
- PS5 Digital Edition – MXN $12,499
- PS5 with Ultra HD Blu-ray disc drive – CAD $649.99
- PS5 Digital Edition – CAD $519.99
Sony President and CEO Jim Ryan noted that the price increase is due to the current global economic environment, in particular the “high global inflation rates, as well as adverse currency trends, impacting consumers and creating pressure on many industries.” Curiously enough, North American PS5 prices will not be affected. This is a strange move on Sony’s part, as arguably North America is one of the countries that is seemingly being affected by global inflation due to the continued effects of the pandemic and the war between Russia and Ukraine.
What’s even more worrying is that there may still be more beyond this list affected by the price increase. A small footnote on the official blog post notes that select markets in EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa), APAC (Asia Pacific), and LATAM (Latin America) may also receive price increases. With Sony also heavily pushing the new $70 price tag on all of its first-party games, it will be interesting to see just how this price hike will impact those who are still yet to get a PlayStation 5.
