PS5 Price Cut Deemed Unlikely by Sony

It sounds as though Sony has no intention to lower the cost of the PlayStation 5 in the near future. Since launching back in 2020, the cost of the PS5 has remained stagnant. The standard edition of the hardware, which comes with a disc drive, still retails for $499.99 today same as it did at release. Conversely, the digital edition of the PS5 has seen its price rise just a bit as the new “slim” model of the platform now costs $449.99 rather than the original $399.99. By this point in the generation, most fans have come to expect that a price cut of some sort for the PS5 might be on the horizon given that it’s nearly four years old. For Sony’s part, though, it doesn’t sound like any such plan is in motion. 

As stated outright in Sony’s latest financial briefing (reported by IGN), PlayStation boss Hiroki Totoki said that it would be “very difficult” for a price cut to come to the PS5. Totoki specifically pointed to the die size of the PS5 as a reason why Sony would have trouble with cutting its manufacturing costs. By comparison, this same issue didn’t persist with the PlayStation 4, which is how Sony was able to lower the price of the console over the previous generation. 

If a price cut was going to happen for the PS5 at any point soon, it could come in tandem with the release of the PS5 Pro. Despite having not yet been announced by Sony, plenty of credible reports have claimed that an upgraded version of the PS5 is set to release at some point later this year. Given its improved specs compared to the base version of the PS5, it’s assumed that the PS5 Pro will cost more money than the current $499 model. If Sony wanted to keep the price of the PS5 from going up too much, though, it could always opt to lower the cost of the base models in tandem with ushering in the PS5 Pro. This is just speculation, however, and isn’t something that is guaranteed to happen by any means. 

Even if a price cut for the PS5 doesn’t happen in the months ahead, it seems like the current cost of the console isn’t dissuading new purchasers. At this time in its life cycle, the PS5 continues to fly off of store shelves and has now nearly surpassed 55 million units sold around the globe. With no signs of slowing down and more major games on the horizon, Sony has to be thrilled with how the PS5 has turned out so far.