Price Hiked PS5 Endures Sony's Worst May in Over 25 Years

I mean this is to be expected not sure what other outcome there could have been...

Slammed over 2:1 by switch 2
And even the good ole Xbox was only 30k behind PS5. 100k to 70k
However June and July will be the same but maybe a little uptick for Xbox before the price increase in August.
But in August the Xbox will drop even more.

It’s so predictable sales wise now with these price increases and even boring really.

And below is the issue they are charging more selling less but making more profit probably.

In terms of 2026 total sales, overall spending on video games is up four percent year-on-year from $22.04 billion to $23.00 billion.

@AI-Generation Comparing a brand new console to a 6 year old one is certainly.... a choice. I know you like to poke the bear, but you have to remember PS5 is on the cusp of selling 100M units

More and more I think the PS6 should pivot to being an 'optional upgrade' with Sony mandating PS5/Pro/PS6 versions of all games.
Once a more affordable price can be achieved, then they can drop the PS5/Pro requirement.

The hardware can't launch too late or it will be out of date, but some consumers really need to manage their expectations of just how low Sony can realistically price it, and Sony need to set realistic expectations for sales at that price.

Oh and well done to 007 First Light - a thoroughly enjoyable Bond game.

This is the first console generation in history in which you got a better deal at launch. What a mess.

I was in cex today bargain hunting and I noticed they are now selling ps5 pro at £700 which I what I pad for a new one

This generation has been something else. The 2020 hard to find consoles, the 4-5 years of basically remasters and dual gen releases, and now the AI flux.

I am truly grateful to be an older gamer with less time. Means my backlog is enough to carry me for a few years. Very curious to see what comes out of this and if things ever get back to the "norm".

Given that pricing is going in the wrong direction for the PS5 (and consumer hardware in general) it makes sense for sales to go in the wrong direction.

I expect Sony to make another £50 rise just before GTA6 Drops.

@LifeGirl Excluding the scalpers…but yes, messy times indeed.

What they supposed to do though eat the costs and go bankrupt? RAM and storage prices are through the roof because of Nvidia, openai, Microsoft, apple and Google

This is the state of the world for all 3 console business. Expect Nintendo to do another round of huge price increases in the next 12 months

Ermmm maybe they're gonna have to try something different like a ps5 lite. No disc drive, lower cheaper storage, cheaper casing , and advertising all over the home screen screen and add pre game loading :/.

@get2sammyb True. All they can do is hope the AI driven component pricing bubble pops or at least deflates sooner (2028?) rather than later.

Makes me glad I have a launch PS5, a Switch 2 and I built my pc before this whole component crisis happened.

Forza horizon 6 must be selling decently it's high up enough on both lists.

This is why I don’t think Sony will increase prices for a while. They have to be sat on stock.

But it’s unsurprising that it’s dropped so much.

SNAFU at this point

The only thing that's going to save the PS5 at this point is The Last Ronin. They need a killer app!

@Rich33 they don't even need to do that, cross gen games lasts near half of a console's lifetime anyway.

@Snackfood 100% agree especially with the ridiculous length of cross gen at the beginning of ps5.

I know people will disagree but there's a really high chance the video game industry crashes. Feel like it's already happening with the huge numbers of lay offs, studio closures, and rising chip/storage costs.

I'm 44 and have been gaming since 1st grade with an Atari. Besides college I've gamed my whole life. I'm not picking up a ps6 until maybe 2 or 3 years into its life cycle. I've seem lots of similar sentiment online, which take with a grain of salt.

Never seen the industry in such rough shape. AI isn't going to help these companies

“It’s worth noting that practically everyone’s been struck by the memory pricing crisis”

What do you mean? This is obviously just Sony being greedy 😈

Nothing at all to do with big trillion dollar companies investing heavily in memory for their AI industries

@Snackfood
This. My backlog could last me at least 5 years easily.

@get2sammyb Sammy what are the chances we get more Witcher 3 style expansions/dlc for older games?

I'm not sure how financially feasible it is or how many games have the cache to do this but ya think this could happen with more companies?

Honestly, if I were Sony (and Microsoft), I wouldn’t release a new console for a few years until hopefully everything settles down. The current consoles themselves run games very well and I just don’t think we are needing another jump anytime soon. A/ it will be super expensive for most people to buy new systems. B/ it feels like we are only starting to see the benefits of this generation after a slow transition and C/ with the price of development spiralling out of control, the last thing we need are developers squeezing even more into the look of games. It will just cause a huge crash with the way it’s going and developing a game will simply not recoup the prices. I would be very happy playing games that run as well as they can and be done with it for a while. I still think that the Last of us part 2 is one of the best looking games around, Callisto protocol really looks amazing, Destiny 2 is still a great looking game to this day and they were all last gen games that run great on PS5. This generation has had Spiderman 2, ghost of Yotei and Resident Evil 9 all looking amazing on base PS5 hardware. Keep the generation running until 2030 and allow everything to settle down. If not, we are all still going to be able to play amazing looking games without the need of pricing people out of the hobby any more than already is happening. When intergalactic makes it to market, whether the story is a mess or not, I have zero doubt that it will be the best looking game of the generation for sure. Laufey looks spectacular on a graphics level too. If that’s whats being done on PS5 hardware now, I personally don’t need more than that. Coupled with my insane back log, I honesty think I have about 5 years worth of gaming ahead of me.

@Leonardo_Turtles I feel there may be some bias in this comment, but I can't quite put my finger on it...

@Dynamiq
That is in effect mostly true, but there were PS5 exclusives in the first few years of this gen.

This time around Sony would need to lay down rules, and make it clear to consumers what the plan is.
They also need to plan roughly when full PS5 support will end so devs have an idea, then keep them up to date with this.
(Unfortunately the one thing Sony have been bad at these last years has been communication).

The reality of what everyday folks are facing economically is at odds with what the price gouging coupled with their GTA6 impulse buys ambitions are at odds.

The truth is these hikes have literally priced out a significant subset of the potential gaming community from upgrading to current Gen consoles or joining the fold anew if they waited until these current times.

At a time where they are hoping GTA 6 will push people off old hardware its only made it that much harder

@Leonardo_Turtles
Ah, yes, your talking about the rumoured sequel to Rise of the Ronin - I don't think thats out for a while yet.
(Lol)

Interestingly, it appears we've finally hit that point with the pricing where it's become too much for many buyers.

The prices have been rising for some time while it seemed sales were still pretty good for the most part. I think the scales have finally tipped.

Video games are a luxury and we should all remember that, the cost of living has become very difficult for many, add in an increasingly expensive hobby... Well, the numbers speak for themselves.

It's concerning, no doubt but I have hope things will correct eventually.

It's going to be some time though.

It's all a perception issue as we've just lived through historical and unnatural low prices and low inflation that could never last.

As I've said before, I was a student in 1995 who was living at home, and working evenings and any hours I could get in a supermarket to buy my PS1 plus memory card and Wipeout.

Let's say I couldn't afford a PS5 now. Instead of spending my evening whining and crying on Push Square about it, I could get an evening second job and some hours at that same supermarket.

A PS5 would be significantly cheaper relative to minimum wage than my PS1 was back in the day.

I.e. the number of shifts I'd have to do before I could flip them the bird, hand in my notice and go buy my PS5, would be fewer than I'd have had to have worked to buy that PS1 in 1995.

@LogicStrikesAgain
Are you filling in for Mr Khastik, who I havent seen as often recently?

(Who I hope is all good if reading this)

I expect sales for PS5 and Xbox Series to drop off sharply until we get to Oct/Nov, when you will get people wanting to get a console for GTA 6 (and are desperate enough to pay the much higher prices). Switch 2 will need to stay within that $500/£500 range in order to maintain decent sales over the next few years. Using and stocking up on older/cheaper Storage and SSD will help them keep costs down.

Doesn’t look like I’ll be buying any new consoles for some time. I just hope none of my current consoles break down 😳

If the gaming industry wants to survive this mess they need to start manufacturing their own components. Like yesterday!

@Dogbreath
Game prices are now MUCH cheaper (inflation adjusted) than back in the 16bit and in some cases beyond cartridge era.

@Dogbreath sure... Except for that housing, food, and (in the USA at least) medical care are wildly more expensive than they were in the 90s.

I'd say you could work hard and better yourself with an education but...sad trombone

skynet demands a sacrifice

On topic, I did my part in June and bought one.

I'll wait on my thank you card from Sony!

@get2sammyb
I never believe them with numbers sometimes. But we will never know the real truth.
They won’t be making much sales wise nowadays after Mays results.
Let’s see what the Europe sales numbers are like, bet they will be terrible.
And in the UK they might be third place for the first time in years.

Not sure why this is news. You raise the prices, you won't sell as many. Not rocket science.

@Dogbreath Not quite sure why you keep pushing the survivor‑bias, “If I could do it, you can do it” angle. It comes across as oddly mean‑spirited toward people younger than yourself.
The issue is that you’re isolating the console price from the economic reality around it. Yes, a PS5 costs fewer minimum‑wage hours than a PS1 did in 1995, but people back then weren’t dealing with today’s housing costs, energy bills, transport costs, tax burden, or the collapse in real disposable income. An average house in 1995 cost £55,000 and a typical mortgage was 3x salary. Today an average house costs £285,000 and a mortgage is typically 7 to 9x the salary.
As a student living at home in 1995, you weren’t paying £1,100 rent, £200 council tax or double‑priced utilities and part‑time supermarket work was plentiful rather than zero‑hours and oversubscribed. So while the console itself may be relatively cheaper, the ability to afford discretionary purchases after covering essentials has fallen sharply, making the “just work a few shifts like I did” argument far less straightforward than it sounds.
Sure, you’ve lived through both eras. I would think there’d be a bit more sympathy for younger people who simply aren’t being afforded the same opportunities you had.

@Oram77
No, bears are dangerous 🤣
But I don’t see PS or Xbox as bears, more like snakes or weasels of the industry recently.

@kmtrain83 Ha! I gave up that battle a while ago. But I'll accept your disagreement!

@LogicStrikesAgain

Nothing at all to do with big trillion dollar companies investing heavily in memory for their AI industries

It's definitely the main factor. But Sony are also one of the biggest publishers to openly and actively embrace AI in game development. They are feeding the AI gold rush.

@Bizzy
Having gamed from the very beginning which I had an Atari 2600 to PS5 pro today and went neo geo mad in between.
I think it boils done to job or career if you can afford these items as decades have past.
Career progression with education and yearly pay rise increases which enable affordability over the decades and what you spend your money on or even invest.

I would say gaming affordability for me was hard at a young age career start a little hard around the Neo Geo era but the last few generations easy ish.
All because of career and work.
Maybe I’ve been lucky but I’ve also worked hard and progressed.

I know youngsters that started well even have level 4 diplomas but then didn’t bother to following in that career and earn not that much around the ages of 25, which now and in the future will limit their personal affordability, I do believe this has been happening for a decade.
And now prices of items are increasing are struggling, but if they had followed that career path would be on a lot more money and have more affordability.

Are you faining ignorance on purpose?

@AI-Generation I’ve been fortunate and I’ve worked hard too, but I also recognise that the economics of modern living and a 'cost of greed' crisis having made things disproportionately harder for people younger than me.
More than anything, I just don’t like seeing people punch down. It’s ugly, unnecessary and beneath us.

@Bizzy
Overall in gaming and other items there is for sure profitability going on and greed.

Then companies release quarterly high or top profits.

@Oram77 We also compared a 6 year old machine to a new one in November, but back then that comparison was favourable, although only week on week. For the period it was the opposite.

Suppose it only suits if the narrative matches what you want.

If Sony can loose someone like me a "Sony Whale" this is proof Sony is loosing others as well due to the lack of genuine good entertainment, severe incompetence and a price increase that will go down in PS history to be one of the biggest mistake ever.

I'm mad that I wasted my money on a PS5 Pro!!

@Propaperpusher

Yep youre better of buying a series x, steam machine or equivalent spec gaming pc... it will be much cheaper than the rip off ps5 :-/

I just wouldn't buy the console, I got a £290 deal on the digital PS5 just before Christmas and was the most I'd pay. The way prices are going, same with Switch 2, simply no longer worth the price to me. I'll just drop out of console gaming after this generation I guess. Shame as I started with an Atari 2600 Jr. which was a budget console itself.

@Anthony_Daniels "Yep youre better of buying a series x, steam machine or equivalent spec gaming pc... it will be much cheaper than the rip off ps5 :-/"

Everything you named is literally more expensive than a PS5, that's amazing 😅

So the Steam machine isn't a rip off even though is as powerful as a 6 year old PS5 and costing twice as much?

I'm genuinely starting to think that we may never see PS6 and Helix launch.

@PSXB

But Sony are also one of the biggest publishers to openly and actively embrace AI in game development. They are feeding the AI gold rush.

Lol, if we’re talking about the use of AI in game development, i’d argue that Microsoft themselves are far bigger users of it than Sony.

Even then, gaming companies using AI isnt even that significant of a demand compared to the thousands of companies across every industry using AI. It’s a drop in a bucket.

Nah, Microsoft is one of the biggest companies driving this AI gold rush with its huge investments, Sony’s part is miniscule compared to it

Good that's how it should be. I am not saying that Sony isn't in a tough position here but if the PS5 keeps selling well despite these price increases, all it well tell Sony is that they can charge that much and people will still keep buying.

@LogicStrikesAgain

Do you have any statements made by Microsoft regarding AI use in game development, or was that just an assumption on your part?
Until they do, Sony are the ones using it and are fully embracing it, they made that official.

It's one thing to release a cutting edge new console at an eye-watering prices.

But substantially raising the price of the same hardware you could have gotten way cheaper years ago? That's a whole different kind of pill to swallow.

As a consumer you just feel screwed, hard to blame people for saying no.

I had a feeling people would dig their heels in. Makes perfect sense. Unfortunately billion dollar companies sometimes need to take the hit on things for the sake of saving face.
They can pass on as much costs as they want but eventually you'll price us all out.
While I do love my PS5 and gaming, this generation sucks. I've never felt so disillusioned and demoralised by gaming.
Maybe take a few on the chin Sony. Show us some good will again like the eventual PS3 and PS4 days

Good. Teach them all the way.

@PSXB Sony using AI in game development is just a drop in the bucket in the demand for AI. There are thousands of other industries that use AI. Secondly, they’re probably not even the biggest in the gaming industry.

Also, when Tencent, EA, Ubisoft, Square, Sony and even minor publishers use AI, you really think Microsoft, who owns some of the biggest AI platforms like Co Pilot and partially ows ChatGPT, isnt using AI themselves? Come on dude.

Also, i’m pretty sure MS has publicly stated that they use AI in their development

@KundaliniRising333 The basic bills raised by €500 in the Netherlands. Gasoline went from €2 to 2,50 a litre its insane.

@Juanalf

Adjust your sarcasm detector, it's pretty weak right now

@Flaming_Kaiser yeah it's nuts here in the US as well. Food, housing costs at covid levels again. Best believe gas will never go back down to pre 'this farce of a war' levels. They will galvanize around a new higher plateau, as they have done so blatantly for near 50 years now. All under the guise of whatever orchestrated current event is in the spotlight or the lie that is inflation.

With gaming in particular it's insane to see how short sighted these corporations are being. Wonder what they know that we don't..... We'll most of us don't.

I mean, at this point, if you really wanted a PS5, you probably already bought one. The price is just part of the story.

And yet there are still people who don't believe the RAM shortages and just think Sony is "being greedy."

Lesson learned for all gamers:
games are the most expensive at lunch
Consoles are the cheapest at lunch
lol

This trend continues I hate to tell you folks, but this might be the beginning of the end.

T’s and P’s to Sony I hope they’ll be ok (they’re fine)

@Carnage If 2028 is sooner, I'd hate to see later. People are hoping more manufacturing plants are up by 2028.

@Bionic-Spencer Except it's a little late for that. We're already almost 6 years into this gen. Work on the next gen usually kicks off shortly after the current gen launches. By now, Sony and MS have spent millions on R&D, signed contracts with component manufacturers (like AMD), etc. They can't just sit on the the tech they spent time and money on. It's why Valve had to push out the Steam Machine. They would've lost more money just sitting on hardware that's going to be more and more outdated as time goes on.

@Dogbreath Have you not noticed pricing for everything has gone up? It's not like "back in the day." It's not as simple as pulling yourself up by your bootstraps and not "whining" about it. Lol

And for game consoles specifically, it has has less to do with inflation and more to do with the cost of components due to the shortage caused by AI data centers hoarding it all. You seem to be forgetting this is a 6 year old console that's subsidised by closed ecosystem with proprietary games. Tech has historically gotten cheaper, regardless of inflation. You truly don't see something wrong with the price of consoles going up?

@AI-Generation It's obviously more than "get a better job." The whole economy is screwed up. The pricing for everything has gone up. The fact that PS sales have hit their lowest point should be a clear indicator.

@Lanmanna
I’ve just seen the European sales that have just come in, it says it all about PS.

EUROPE
PlayStation 5 sales compared to the same month a year ago are down by 159,952 (-56.4%)

But I definitely don’t blame just the price of the console.
Sony have not exactly set the world alight the last two years and have got nowhere the highs of the PS4 days. With some exceptionally bad management or their studios and brand.

@MidnightDragonDX exactly TDLR, i hope the greed keeps eating away at them, their greed will be their downfall.

@Mes_Urson that's not going to happen, they will squeeze every morsel and crust they can from the player base even if it prices them out to collapse, greed doesn't pay especially when you blame the player base for your downfalls and bad investments, I'll leave it at that.