Summary
Sonyis increasing the price ofPlayStation 5consoles, controllers, and the Portal in Japan, citing the “global economic situation” as the cause. As of September 2, the PS5 will cost around $90 more than it was being sold for before, priced at ¥79,980, or $552.
There’s no mention of this price increase being made anywhere outside of Japan, but the reasoning behind it is certainly cause for concern. Right now, you may expect a PS5 to set you back around $500 in the US, so it will be significantly more expensive for fans in Japan to pick up a console.
This development was spotted byVGC, who noticed the reveal in a Japanese PlayStationblog post. The move affects both models of the PS5, the standard version and the one without a disc drive. The latter will now set Japanese players back around $506, so more than a base PS5 costs in the US.
DualSense controllers and the PlayStation Portal are also affected, costing the equivalent of around $83 and $242 respectively.
Sony Explains Reason Behind PS5 Price Increase
“Given the recent challenging external environment, including the current fluctuations in the global economic situation, and the impact it will have on our business, we have reached this decision,” reads a blog post from Sony (machine translated into English). “We appreciate your understanding so that we can continue to provide our customers with the best gaming experience and operate a stable business.”
Xboxhas not revealed a similar price increase in the region, but it did last year. Back in February of last year,both the Xbox Series X and Series S were hit with price increases, albeit not as dramatic as what we’re seeing from Sony right now.
It remains to be seen how this affects the price point of the long-awaited PS5 Pro, both in Japan and worldwide. That isstill rumoured for a 2024 release date.
PlayStation 5
The PlayStation 5 was launched in 2020 as Sony’s next-gen console, armed with an SSD and the new DualSense controller. Disc-based and digital models are available, and it supports the new PS VR2 virtual reality headset.
