Sony took players by surprise this morning by announcing point-blank a price increase for its PS5. The digital version now costs €549.99, while the Digital Edition retails for €449.49. The Japanese firm evokes a difficult decision, which it was forced to take in reaction to the inflation which has raged in recent weeks.
It was hoped that the video game industry would escape it, but in the end nothing will happen. Lately, inflation has caused many manufacturers to increase the price of their products. A phenomenon that has been observed in particular in the field of processors, with Intel announcing in July a price increase this fall, or the next chips from AMD which will be significantly more expensive than the previous ones.
But until now, game consoles were spared and nothing seemed to indicate that it would be impacted by the current economic situation. It was therefore Sony who finally cracked first. In a blog post published this morning, the Japanese firm announces a historic price increase for its PS5. In Europe, it will now be necessary to pay €549.99 for the standard version and €449.99 for the Digital Edition to get the new gen console.
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Sony increases the price of its PS5
“The global economic environment is a challenge that many of you around the world are no doubt familiar with”Sony justifies itself, which evokes “a difficult decision” which stems from “problematic economic conditions”. Only the United States are spared by this price increase. The rest of the world, on the other hand, is affected by the measure. As a reminder, the PS5 initially costs €499.99 (€399.99 for the Digital Edition).
If the timing of this announcement is somewhat risky, this one occurring after Nintendo was assured that the Switch would not see its price increase despite inflation, note that Microsoft has already taken similar measures in India to its Xbox Series X. To pass the pill, Sony indicates that its “top priority remains to improve the supply situation of the PS5 so that as many players as possible can [en] to profit from “.
