PlayStation, Nintendo, accessory-makers are paying the price — and so are we
Sorry to break it to you, but that new bit of electronics that you’ve been craving is not going to go down in price. In fact, it’s probably going to go up. Again.
Over the last year prices on virtually all goods have been going up, up, up and feeling more expensive than gold.
Last week Nintendo announced that it was separating the prices between digital and physical games by around $10. While we HOPE that means that their digital games are getting cheaper the reality is that they’re getting more expensive. This isn’t an uncommon practice, since the company already does a variation of thise in other parts of the world, but now it’s taking the practice to its largest user base. It’s doing everything it can to avoid raising the price of the Switch 2, but who knows how long that can go.
Sony and its PlayStation brand are looking at dynamic pricing [h/t VICE] on various digital storefronts to offset costs and take advantage of game popularity. Now, the company revealed that it was jacking up the price of its consoles by considerable amounts. Here are the prices:
US
- PS5 – From $549.99 > $649.99
- PS5 Digital Edition – $499.99 > $599.99
- PS5 Pro – $749.99 > $899.99
- PlayStation Portal – $199.99 > $249.99
UK
- PS5 – From £479.99 > £569.99
- PS5 Digital Edition – £429.99 > £519.99
- PS5 Pro – £699.99 > £789.99
- PlayStation Portal – £199.99 > £219.99
Europe
- PS5 – From €499.99 > €649.99
- PS5 Digital Edition – €499.99 > €599.99
- PS5 Pro – €799.99 > €899.99
- PlayStation Portal – €219.99 > €249.99
Japan
- PS5 – From ¥79,980 > ¥97,980
- PS5 Digital Edition – ¥72,980 > ¥89,980
- PS5 Pro – ¥119,980 > ¥137,980
- PlayStation Portal – ¥34,980 > ¥39,980
And just this week Lenovo brought up the price of the Legion GO 2 handheld by HUNDREDS OF DOLLARS. (Don’t worry, you probabloy hadn’t even heard of this thing anyways, but still…)
Valve is working on component costs with its partners before it announces the pricing of its Steam Machine and Steam Frame platforms due this year.
All of these companies are citing the ongoing wars causing oil prices to surge (you need oil to make plastics and get them to places), the toll AI is taking on chip costs, and tariffs tariffs tariffs wreaking havoc and uncertainty on every industry.
We’re likely over the cost tipping point on consumers purchasing game consoles. I’m not an analyst, but we’re already seeing people say they may hold off on something because of the dollar signs attached to it, and families are struggling enough to make ends meet as it is that spending money on a new platform just isn’t justifiable.
Suffice it to say, we’d all be so lucky to think that the prices of all of these things will go down once things settle, but brother have I got to warn you, they ain’t. These are large corporations we’re talking about, and supply chains they have to deal with. Even if everything stopped being bad today it would be months if not years before prices would be able to start coming back down. Stock at warehouses is already cost negative, and things being produced right now need to recover their investments. There MAY be sales around the holidays on consoles (we did get some discounts on the Switch 2 and PS5 in December) but those are temporary and before these latest increases.
Maybe leasing gaming platforms will make a return (Xbox tried it a while back before people really knew what it was) or maybe studios will keep pushing games on older platforms (hang on to that PS4 and Xbox One). It’s hard to tell what’s going to happen tomorrow, but one thing is for sure: your best bet is to buy something TODAY before the price goes up yet again. And again.
And again.
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