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Sony has just announced a price hike for its PlayStation 5 . The increase will have “immediate effect” and from the company they argue that it is due to “high world inflation rates” and “adverse monetary trends”.
Thus, Sony has decided to raise the price of the console, both in its version with a disc player and the digital version. The new prices are as follows:
- PlayStation 5 with disc drive :€499.99€549.99.
- PlayStation 5 digital edition :€399.99€449.99.
As we can see, it is a generous increase of 50 euros in both versions that distance Sony consoles from their toughest competitors, the Xbox Series X | S , ps5 console, which continue to maintain the original prices: 499.99 euros and 299.99 euros, respectively.
Buying a PS5 is still chaos
The price increase will apply in “certain markets” in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia-Pacific, Latin America and Latam. In the United States, however, it will not apply . It makes sense, since the United States is Xbox territory and raising the price in this market would make the console even less competitive.
This is how Xbox and PlayStation have dropped in price throughout history: with PS5 and Series X we will have to arm ourselves with patience
On the other hand, it’s no secret that Sony’s stock of consoles still doesn’t measure up . It is still difficult to get hold of a PS5 and it is curious that, to this day, it is still “news” that there is a stock of the console. In this sense, from Sony they affirm the following:
“While this price increase is a necessity given the current global economic environment and its impact on SIE’s business, our top priority remains to improve the supply situation for PS5 so that as many gamers as possible can experience everything it has to offer. PS5 and what’s to come.”
And it is that the current situation of the next-gen is tense. Not only have we gone through a semiconductor crisis that has practically forced users to buy more expensive packs with games, accessories, etc., but the games , ps5 value in Bangladesh, have also gone up in price (80 euros a AAA) and we have had to face speculation .
The sale of consoles is a good reflection of the situation that Sony is going through. According to Sony, the firm has sold 22.3 million consoles since its launch (21 months in the pandemic market, let’s not forget). If we compare it with its predecessor, the PlayStation 4, at the same time Sony had managed to sell 30 million consoles.
With this now official price increase, one wonders when we will finally see a price drop. Based on the fact that, first of all, the stock must be normalized, it is most likely that it will take us years to see the first sale .
Sony has taken an average of three years to lower the price of its consoles. Considering that the PS5 has been on the market for two years, three years is most likely too optimistic. Given what we’ve seen, we’re going to have to wait until 1) it’s easy to buy a console and 2) do it at a lower price.
Sony has taken an average:
of three years to lower the price of its consoles. Considering that the PS5 has been on the market for two years, three years is most likely too optimistic. Given what we’ve seen, we’re going to have to wait until 1) it’s easy to buy a console and 2) do it at a lower price.
If you were waiting for PS5 to lower its price, we have bad news: Sony has announced that, with immediate effect, its next-generation consoles will cost 50 euros more or its equivalent in all markets except the United States. In the case of Spain, we are talking about 550 euros for the PS5 model with a Blu-ray reader and 450 for its exclusively digital counterpoint. If you want to play with it, you also have to buy a separate game or consider one of its three subscription models.
An even more complicated movement to understand based on the fact that they are the same models from two years ago. The same storage capacity of the launch PS5, the same design with flaps and, despite the fact that an improved DualSense controller was shown on the occasion of Gamescom 2022 , we will still have the 2020 one when we open the box. By the way, if we want to have the console in another color other than white, the casings are also paid separately.
PS5 and Xbox Series a year later: this is how the editors of VidaExtra have experienced the new generation of consoles
Now, it is possible that this sudden price increase without prior notice -something absolutely unusual in models about to turn two years old- will not drastically stop those most interested, seeing how they have been exposed to the stock problems that the company has suffered. console since practically its launch. It may have indirectly benefited Early Adopters and the first to launch consoles, but that doesn’t mean that it’s totally ugly.
From here it is time to consider the essentials: what has driven this movement , what effects will it have in the face of its planned expansion compared to the Xbox model and how will it affect the future of a PS5 whose exclusives, by the way, have started a massive landing on PCs Including the recent arrival of Death Stranding on Game Pass itself. Let’s go by parts.
The bottom line: why has Sony raised the price of PS5?
Although the real answer is found in the Sony offices:
the problem has been in front of our noses for several years: the distribution of PS5 has been a nightmare for everyone . For manufacturers, distributors, game developers and also those interested in getting one, of course, and they have not been few: a month ago the barrier of 21 million consoles sold was overcome even with the shortage of components. Being, since its launch, a seen and unseen on digital shelves.
The price of 500 euros was the least barrier when launching PlayStation, but it was a very important barrier.
The other reality is that, although since the end of last year releasing PS5 is not such an impossible mission , although it is not easy either, the distribution model has continued to be chaos. To the point where, in order to access the console, we have seen how distributors and stores have added batches with very specific extras to the new generation PlayStation , including a second controller, games or additional controls. That is to say, to buy a console for 500 euros, you had to put 700 euros in advance.
From here, an essential consideration:
if we have learned anything from the attempt to offer a console standard like 3DO and its resounding failure, it is that, with few exceptions, the new consoles are sold to the general public well below their own manufacturing price and That amount is later more than recovered through the sale of software. Both through in-house produced software (in this case, PlayStation Studios) and the percentage it receives from partners and third parties. Something that, by the way, has gotten him into trouble recently in the UK.
And what happens when you don’t have a stock of consoles, they arrive at homes with droppers, the value of the components does not drop enough, it remains the same or becomes more expensive, and your profits depend on the direct sale of games ? Basically, it’s time to give the swerve that Sony has done.
