Sony raised the price of the PS5 in the US this week blaming a “challenging economic environment”.
Look, we don’t want to get too deeply into the politics of it all, but we know the uncertain situation caused by tariffs is playing a huge role in all of this. PlayStation did shield itself from the turbulence for a little time by increasing console shipments to the US before the tariffs went into action, but that was only ever going to buy it time, which has now run out.
The irony is that while the price has gone up in the US, the platform holder is running a promotion in China to coincide with the release of the locally developed Lost Soul Aside.
From now through the end of the month, you’ll be able to get a PS5 Digital Edition for RMB 2,799 (~$390) and a PS5 with a Blu-ray drive for RMB 3,399 (~$474). That’s obviously a fair bit less than the new US prices, and should help Sony sell a few extra consoles in the region.
Some games and controllers are also discounted.
Of course, the PS5 is still extraordinarily expensive for a system that’s nearing its fifth anniversary. This has been a challenging generation for Sony, starting with the turmoil of the pandemic and now these new tariffs. It’s going to be fascinating to see how the manufacturer keeps hardware sales flowing with the prices now so abnormally high around the world.
