The PlayStation 5 is about to get more expensive in most major markets, and Sony says you can blame continued inflation and other global economic troubles.Today on the PlayStation blog, Sony announced that it will be raising the price of both editions of the PS5 in Europe, the UK, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Canada. The United States seems to be the only major market not getting a price increase.”The global economic environment is a challenge that many of you around the world are no doubt experiencing,” the blog post states. “We’re seeing high global inflation rates, as well as adverse currency trends, impacting consumers and creating pressure on many industries.”The price increases are as follows:Europe:PS5 with Ultra HD Blu-ray disc drive – €549.99, up from €499.99PS5 Digital Edition – €449.99, up from €399.99UK:PS5 with Ultra HD Blu-ray disc drive – £479.99, up from £449.99PS5 Digital Edition – £389.99, up from £359.99Japan:PS5 with Ultra HD Blu-ray disc drive – ¥54,980 yen, up from ¥49,980PS5 Digital Edition – ¥44,980 yen, up from ¥39,980China:PS5 with Ultra HD Blu-ray disc drive – ¥4,299 yuan, up from ¥3,899 yuanPS5 Digital Edition – ¥3,499 yuan, up from ¥3,099 yuanAustralia:PS5 with Ultra HD Blu-ray disc drive – AUD $799.95, up from AUD $749.95PS5 Digital Edition – AUD $649.95, up from AUD $599.95Mexico:PS5 with Ultra HD Blu-ray disc drive – MXN $14,999, up from MXN $13,999PS5 Digital Edition – MXN $12,499, up from MXN $11,499Canada:PS5 with Ultra HD Blu-ray disc drive – CAD $649.99, up from $629 CADPS5 Digital Edition – CAD $519.99, up from $499 CADIt is unfortunately not clear from the blog post whether or not this price increase will eventually be brought back down again, or if so, when. Sony concludes its blog post by stating that its top priority is to improve the PS5 supply situation, which has struggled since the console’s launch due to ongoing chip shortages.Sony’s move follows a very similar one from Meta, which bumped the price of Meta Quest 2 $100 late last month for the same reasons. Ampere Analysis’ Piers Harding-Rolls suggests in his own blog post that Sony’s move was a necessary one to pass on continued cost increases hitting the component supply chain. Harding-Rolls predicts that the price increase will have “minimal impact” on sales due to continued high demand, and adds that for now, there’s no indication that Microsoft will make the same move. However, it may take advantage of Sony’s price increase to push the value of its own hardware.New Sony PlayStation 5 Console Covers and DualSense ColorsAmpere Analysis estimates that Sony has sold 21 million PS5s as of June 2022, while Xbox Series consoles have sold 13.8 million.Rebekah Valentine is a news reporter for IGN. You can find her on Twitter @duckvalentine.
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