The Japanese group announced on Thursday an increase in the prices recommended for its PlayStation 5 video game console on most markets, except for the United States.
Le Monde
Inflation affects all sectors, including that of video games. The Japanese group Sony has announced, in a press release published Thursday, August 25 , an increase in the sale prices of its PlayStation consoles 5 (PS5) on most of its markets with the exception of the United States, justifying this decision as a means of adapting to high inflation, as well as unfavorable exchange effects. It is rare that a console sees its price increase after its launch (the PS5 was put on the market in November 2020), the prices that tend to drop over time.
PS5 prices in Europe will therefore climb by 50 euros to reach 549.99 euros (+ 10 %) for the console with disk player and 449.99 euros (+ 12.5 %) for its digital version , according to the press release. Its prices also increase “with immediate effect” in the United Kingdom, China, Australia, Mexico and Canada, while they will not be noted in Japan from September 15. Asia-Pacific, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa are also concerned.
“a necessity”
“We observe high levels of inflation, as well as negative exchange effects, affecting consumers and putting many industrial sectors under pressure,” said Jim Ryan, the boss of Sony Interactive Entertainment, Group video game entity. “Because of these harsh economic conditions, we made the difficult decision to increase the retail prices recommended for the PS5” in various countries, added Mr. Ryan, assuring that it was “a necessity”. The reason why Sony spared the United States was not specified, while inflation is however very high in the first world economy.
m. Ryan also recalled that Sony’s priority remained improving the production of its PS5 consoles, which suffers from the persistent disruption of its supply chains, which makes these products often difficult to access for consumers, except Go through parallel circuits practicing prohibitive prices.
No increase in the same type has been decided at the moment on the competition side, or on the side of the American giant Microsoft (which produces Xbox consoles), or on the side of the Japanese company Nintendo. The latter president, Shuntaro Furukawa, said his group about ten days ago that his group did not consider “for the moment” to increase the prices of his Switch console, despite production costs and increased distribution. “We want to avoid excluding” consumers, he said.