Sony has announced they will be raising the recommended retail price of PlayStation 5 Consoles across Europe, Austrailia, and New Zealand. The company has stated that “a challenging economic environment, including high inflation and fluctuating exchange rates,” is at the forefront of the decision to do so.
These price increases were confirmed via a PlayStation Blog post concerning them in which the company went over the price increases. Starting on April 14th, the prices for each version of the console will be as follows in these regions:
| Europe | PS5 Digital Edition – €499.99 (No pricing changes for the standard PS5 with Ultra HD Blu-ray disc drive) |
| UK | PS5 Digital Edition – £429.99 (No pricing changes for the standard PS5 with Ultra HD Blu-ray disc drive) |
| Australia | Standard PS5 with Ultra HD Blu-ray disc drive – AUD $829.95 PS5 Digital Edition – AUD $749.95 |
| New Zealand | Standard PS5 with Ultra HD Blu-ray disc drive – NZD $949.95 PS5 Digital Edition – NZD $859.95 |
It is stated that the PlayStation 5 Pro will not be receiving a change to its recommended retail price, with Europe and the UK only seeing an increase to the Digital version of the console. Alongside this, it was announced that the Disc Drive peripheral used for the digital version or PlayStation 5 Pro versions of the console will actually see a decrease in its recommended retail price. Starting April 14th, the price of the disc drive will adjust to:
| Europe | €79.99 |
| UK | £69.99 |
| Australia | AUD $124.95 |
| New Zealand | NZD $139.95 |
Additionally, the PlayStation Blog states that regions in the Middle East as well as Africa(EMEA) will also see an increase in the recommended retail price, though no numbers were given on that front. It also remains to be seen if the Disk Drive price decrease will occur only in the regions listed or if that will be rolled out worldwide.
This is the second price hike that the PlayStation 5 has seen in many regions, having raised the price prior in 2022, in which the price was increased in places like Canada, Mexico, Asia, as well as Europe and Austrailia again. This makes the platform considerably more expensive for some people than it would have been at launch.
The next generation of consoles launched during a global recession brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. That recession lasted until 2022, though most countries are still struggling to stabilize. These new price hikes come during rising concerns of additional recessions, potentially global, brought about by President Trump’s use of tariffs that might signal the start of a trade war. Nintendo was recently affected as well, delaying pre-orders for the Nintendo Switch 2 in the US as blanket tariffs of 24% were levied against Japan, with a potential price hike to the console still unclear.
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