
A few months ago, we reported on some strange, inconsistent pricing spotted on the PS Store, and it seems this hasn't gone away — and may have become even more widespread.
Over on good old Reddit, someone shared their experience while looking at Assassin's Creed Unity, which recently received an update enabling 60 frames-per-second performance when played on PS5.
When not signed in, the game showed a discounted price of £3.74, but when they logged into their account, the price was suddenly £9.99:
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We've been able to replicate this on the browser-based PS Store; when logged in, we see the higher price, and it swaps to the lower one when we're not, just as shown above.
Another one: when logged out, The Last of Us: Part II Remastered shows as £44.99. After logging in, the price changes to £42.49. Not a massive difference, but it's still a clear change.
Obviously these are just a couple of examples, but they're indicative of a larger scale experiment with dynamic pricing.
Price-tracking website PSPrices has been keeping tabs on this for a while, and recently reported on their findings. Here's how they describe what's going on:
"Some PlayStation Store users see experimental prices that are significantly lower than the standard retail price. This is a controlled A/B test by Sony to study the price elasticity of demand. Users are randomly placed in control or test groups — and see different prices for the same games."
So, this isn't something that's affecting everyone, but it's possible you've been seeing higher or lower PS Store prices than other PS5 users, and may not even know.
Have you had any issues with something like this? Tell us in the comments section below.
[source psprices.com, via resetera.com, reddit.com]





Comments 67
This is absolu Ridiculous and extremely scummy.
Shame on Sony. They aren’t in short supply.
Will be buying even less digital games than I do.
II's no secret the PS store most of the time is hot garbage for prices/sales (maybe except during Xmas time) if we are truly moving to a digital only future they will have to buck up their ideas that's for sure.
Edit: classic reddit mod behaviour, deleted the post already
Worth noting Xbox has been doing this for donkey’s years. They’re called ‘Just For You’ deals. They don’t try to hide it though, it’s made very clear when you’re being offered targeted sales.
Sony not being anti consumer during the PS5 generation challenge: IMPOSSIBLE.
Jokes aside, I am really upset with most of their decisions this generation, especially since I grew up with PlayStation since the PSX.
I don't like the sound of that.
As a consumer, I feel the current prices on games make me disinterested in pulling the trigger on purchasing many games, even when substantially discounted. Suspicion on pricing will only make me even more entrenched in my consuming ways.
I've slept on physical media this entire generation, because the price of entry for a digital-only console was slightly lower. There's hardly any places left in my country where you can buy physical media, let alone trade in.
Ah, one of the many benefits of operating a walled garden. You can do whatever you want without needing to worry about any of those other pesky storefronts spoiling the fun.
More reasons for buying physical - thanks Sony!
@Cakefish I don't think you can call it a targetted sale if a £3.74 game costs you £9.99?
Targeted sales with a dynamic price - fine
Logging in after seeing a lower advertised price and it only being available to you for a higher price - not fine (and not legal?)
Why would a lower price show for someone who isn't logged in???
I can kind of understand a difference in price if someone has a PS+ subscription - Game Pass members get specific deals for having that subscription.
But surely not the other way round.
I'm not against targeted sales as long they say its targeted sales.
I’d be fine with this if they were transparent about it.
@Oram77 theres some good deals on there but they are the same ones all the time
Can the author confirm whether the price was increased while signed in? The reddit post has been removed by moderator.
If the targeted price is lower, then great, but if it's higher, that's poor business practice.
Dynamic pricing is just another sign that capitalism needs to collapse. It’s a disgusting policy even on things with limited availability like concert tickets (it’s basically legal ticket touting) but to have it on something that have infinite supply should be made illegal.
If true, that is effing dirty. I don't think it should be allowed at all as it's FAR too likely to be abused at scale, based on dirty algorithms.
DISLIKE!
UPDATE: I did just try this myself and AC Unity is £3.74 whether I login or not, using a different browser + VPN, so it is selective.
Meanwhile, at Sony's Pricing Department...
Changing the price based on race, nationality, gender, employment. But let’s just say is ‘Dynamic’ and based on “AI”
I was happy to buy Stellar Blade for an additional $20 off.
This is obviously bs but if it were true, can you imagine how dumb those few PS Pro buyers have to feel
Ehh, i’m very stubborn and I think that it’s BS.
I’m very patient as well and if the games don’t get to a price that I like, I’ll just never buy them.
There was a game on PS3 called 1001 spikes I believe and I had a price that I wanted to pay for it and it never got to that point so I never played it.
Genuinely thought this was illegal in the UK.
@d-slice I just tried it and i'm not seeing it, same price for AC: Unity logged in or logged out.
The explanation from PS Prices does make some sense however, that this may be some sort of A/B testing to see how sale pricing affects purchasing.
@themightyant I wonder if this is Sonys way of trying to implement the ‘just for you’ deals on Xbox (admittedly it’s a bad looking start)
I also hate those Xbox deals
Hey if sony wants to price me out of the hobby no problem. I'll just focus on pc even more.
I’m glad you are reporting this. This is so scummy.
Just buy physical, problem sorted
Dynamic pricing doesn't need 'testing' because it's a disingenuous practice by default. Much like not reviewing games at launch when asked by a publisher.
This is not how you do market research into demand elasticity. You change the price for everyone for a set period - say, six months - and then put it back where it used to be and see how quantity demanded changed.
@nessisonett It's the DFS sale all over again
Just buy PSN credit cards, get USA ACC and buy games 1/3 cheaper than UK or EU regions
Like I needed less of a reason to purchase one the PS store. Pretty much every third party site or brick and mortar is cheaper than it without them implementing dynamic pricing
Digital prices are always ridiculous. I’ll never pay full price for a digital game.
"'This is a controlled A/B test by Sony to study the price elasticity of demand. Users are randomly placed in control or test groups — and see different prices for the same games.'"
Yeah, they really shouldn't be using real consumers as guinea pigs for their testing. Especially in matters of money.
Just got back from Sainsbury’s, they do it with some nectar prices just for you.
They are all at it 😂😂😂
I had my suspicions should be illegal..f@#king w@#$kers
I always wait till a game I want has at least 70% off f@#k em
@sanderson72 as far as I understand it the £9.99 is the standard RRP and the £3.74 is the sale price? If so that’s exactly how it works on Xbox. You get offered random deep discounts on a select few games, typically ones that you’ve wishlisted or are in the same genre as other games you’ve purchased. It’s a fairly narrow selection of games though, I often see repeats being offered to me.
Sony is the sole proprietor of their store. It's why I am desperate to hang on to physical media. Without the ability to buy from Amazon or some other retailer, they have no competition.
The PS Store just keeps getting worse, it should get called out more as it’s getting borderline unacceptable, out of every digital platform holder Sony’s is by far the most expensive and abusive.
I remember in the latter years of PS4 where almost every game was cheaper on the PS Store and you could find most digital games on third-party storefronts, nowadays it’s way cheaper to find most games on disc even for years-old games, the other day I realized my physical game collection for PS5 games is already larger than PS4’s (and I don’t consider myself a purist of either format as I just buy where it’s cheaper).
Assassin's Creed Unity on my end...
There is definitely some weird thing going on.
Dynamic pricing works with supply and demand. Due to the nature of digital game sales the supply is effectively infinite meaning it can only work on the demand side.
That likely means higher prices will occur for popular games (to maximise profit) and lower prices for games not selling well (to stimulate sales).
This is a crappy move in my opinion and something to be concerned about an all digital future.
I am not surprised that there is a lawsuit on pricing/overcharging in the UK.
https://playstationyouoweus.co.uk/the-claim/
https://www.ft.com/content/264e27d9-04bc-4e99-b66b-f3838835d7c3
Appears to be £3.74 for me whilst logged in. That said, I don't own any of the Assasin's Creed games, so perhaps I am targeted? Either way, quite scummy if this indeed what is happening.
Don't know how many more example you all need that Sony is losing their way and this has been one of the worst generation in PS history.
This right here is another example of how bad this gaming generation has been.
Dynamic pricing is a disgusting practice. I would like to see their metrics to base this discriminatory garbage and I hope it gets them sued
People will pay what something is worth to them. If you look at a price and believe the product is worth that price to you, then is that a problem?
You feel you got your monies worth, otherwise you wouldn't have paid it.
This already happens on a far larger scale too.
Games are different prices in different regions (digital keys) because they know some consumers will pay more for them than others, and so they jolly well charge those consumers more.
That's why I buy PC games on grey (other region) key sites for a lower price.
Playstation. For the (dynamic pricing)payers.
Best way to avoid being tricked is staying informed. Keep a watchful eye on prices for a while before making a purchase - if you know the medium values, you can't fall for Sony's scams. And go for the purchase when said game reaches an acceptable price.
Another way to stick it right back, is to have multiple accounts on the same console, each for a different area of the world.
Sony makes promotions periodically and not always in all areas at once, so you can profit from this at the time of purchase.
Also exchange rates can help in some cases, for example it's cheaper to get games in $$ currency on an US account if you live in Europe.
Keep in mind that if you have multiple accounts on the same console, once you buy and install a game in one of them, you can play it on any of the other accounts too.
Very useful if you have PS+ in one of them
Or if you want to earn the trophies in a game once again (if I replay a game, I like getting trophies too as I go, so that replay will be on another account... for example i platinumed Bloodborne 3 times with this feature - awesome game👍)
This is really scummy as is but would be really scummy if a genre you show a lot of interest in has higher pricing because they know you’ll pay it.
AC Unity is £3.24 on my end btw.
UK BASED with PS+
£3.74 on store not logged in
£3.74 on app logged in
Could this be something weird depending on country? Like showing the lowest price non regional when not logged in, then showing the regional price when logged in.
@Cakefish
At least with Xbox, you have the option to buy digital games from 3rd parties, often much cheaper.
I still find it crazy that Sony is allowed to have a walled garden on digital game purchases.
The price increasingly when you sign in sounds misleading and potentially legally wrong?
Finally!!
I’ve spent the last two months trying to understand (and getting annoyed) why I can’t access the Front Mission 2 Remake promo at €11.99… As soon as I log in, it jumps to €28.
I even asked PSN France on X.com for an explanation, but never got a reply :/
Thanks for helping me start figuring this out… thanks Sony
One of my PSN friends was offered Sniper Elite Resistance at 70% off (he did show me a screenshot of the offer) and for others in his region it is 30% off.
I’ve always had a low opinion of Sony digital store pricing especially when it comes to US and UK/EU differences but this strikes me as even more dirty.
But whatever really, it just makes me put off buying an item until the deal is universal for that region or better for me obviously.
This is gross. I am fine with targeted promotions (ie notifying horror game fans of horror games on sale) but everybody in the same market should be offered the same deals.
Borderline scam. Fair deals should be same for everyone.
It's showing as £3.74 when not logged in and £9.99 when logged in for me (UK). I hope they get in bother for this, pretty scummy behaviour
@ElectricWizard true, I do often make use of that option too! Loaded (formerly CDKeys) is great for that type of thing.
If they can afford to discount a game for some people. they can afford to discount it for everyone. Truly despicable
@Panic_Attache Seems like a misleading price indication to me, if you took something to the till in a shop and the price was suddenly higher, you'd query it.
I only discovered that UK and EU prices are way different. When you write price £9.99 I almost everytime get price around £14.99
@Ristar24 I'd like to think they'll face some challenge about this practice but i won't hold my breath. Don't think it's even illegal, but doesn't feel right to shaft existing customers so blatantly
@Panic_Attache In a physical shop it would protected by consumer rights laws I think, at least here in the UK, online I don't know. Either way, very scummy as you say.
@Oram77 even with ps+ I've noticed the prices are still way to high and that sucks
I see the difference in my end.
Logged out = £3.74
Logged in = £9.99
I don’t buy digital and have PS+ premium, if that has any effect on it
CDkeys or Loaded as it's now called is doing it as well I had Gears 4 (Xbox One) on my list to let me know when it was back on stock. I got an email and it said it's back in stock £4.79 I clicked on it and it loaded up the game and it was £7.89 I emailed them about it and they gave me a BS answer saying they adjust prices on the market which I know is BS
I'm starting to look elsewhere now or even waiting for steam as they have been deals for games that are same price as CDKEYS used to be
Here in the US, state regulators are working towards banning "surveillance pricing", which may impact this depending how it's deployed and the basis on which prices are set. (Very glad my state, Maryland, is leading the charge on this.) Can't ban it fast enough - this goes much further than regional price controls and quickly becomes extremely unfair to consumers.
Saw this a while ago when me and friends where playing modern warfare 2 we would have different offers on skins and we were only a few miles away from each other. I’ve since started buying physical copies of games. And not playing cod anymore.
This is in the uk
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