Sony is hiking the price of the PlayStation 5 yet again, but thankfully, it will only impact those in Japan. Back in 2022, Sony revealed that it would be increasing the cost of the PS5 in territories that included Europe, China, Canada, Australia, and Japan as a result of shifts in the “global economic environment”. Now, almost two years exactly after this previous price hike took place, Sony has announced that it will have to make further changes to the value of the PS5 in Japan.
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Announced via the Japanese version of the PlayStation Blog, Sony revealed that it will be increasing the PS5’s sale price by 13,000 Yen (roughly $90 USD) for both the standard and digital versions of the console. This means that the standard PS5 will now sell for ¥79,980 while the digital edition will go for ¥72,980. As for the reason behind this price change, Sony says it’s due to “the recent challenging external environment, including the current fluctuations in the global economic situation, and the impact it will have on our business”. For now, price hikes haven’t been announced for any additional regions other than Japan.
As we near the fourth anniversary of the PS5’s release, it’s a bit unusual to see the console continue to have its price raised rather than lowered. To this point in the PS5 generation, a price drop for the hardware hasn’t been seen in any regions. This is quite the departure given how Sony operated with all of its previous PlayStation consoles as the PS3 and PS4, specifically, saw price drops within their first two years on the market.
If a PS5 price cut were to happen at any point soon, it might coincide with the launch of the PS5 Pro. Although Sony hasn’t yet confirmed that a higher-end version of the PS5 is on the way, reports continue to widely suggest that it will arrive before the end of 2024. Assuming that this is accurate, it suggests that a reveal of the console could happen at any point in the coming weeks.
