Sony has announced it will be increasing the price of the PlayStation 5 starting on Thursday, August 21st. In a statement shared gamers on the PlayStation Blog, Sony confirmed new, increased prices for all PS5 models in the United States.
"Similar to many global businesses, we continue to navigate a challenging economic environment. As a result, we’ve made the difficult decision to increase the recommended retail price for PlayStation 5 consoles in the U.S. starting on August 21," said Isabelle Tomatis Vice President, Global Marketing, Sony Interactive Entertainment.
Beginning on Thursday, August 21st, the cost of PlayStation 5 consoles in the U.S. will increase to the following prices:
- PlayStation 5 – $549.99
- PlayStation 5 Digital Edition – $499.99
- PlayStation 5 Pro – $749.99
This is a $50 increase from current prices. Sony confirmed that the recommended retail prices for PlayStation 5 accessories will remain unchanged. Prices in other markets will remain the same as well, suggesting that these prices are related to President Donald Trump's tariffs.
Although Sony didn't directly say it, many are attributing the rise in price to the tariffs that President Trump imposed on various countries around the world. Analyst Daniel Ahmad noted that even though Sony is "diversifying away" from China, there are still tariffs being imposed on numerous other countries where the PS5 is produced, including China (30%), Japan (15%), Vietnam (20%), and Malaysia (19%).
Sony is hardly the only one feeling the impact of tariffs. Microsoft announced price increases for its Xbox consoles and accessories back in May. The price for both the Xbox Series S 512GB and 1TB consoles increased by $80 from their previous prices, while the Xbox Series X Digital and Disc increased by $100 from their previous prices.
Although pre-orders of the Nintendo Switch 2 was delayed in the United States for a few weeks due to uncertainty surrounding the tariffs, the console itself still launched on time in June at its original price. However, even Nintendo has stated that it can not rule out increasing the price of the Switch 2 due to tariffs, and has already raised the prices on numerous Switch 2 accessories.
With the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S approaching their fourth year on the market, these price hikes stand out as unusual. Normally consoles get cheaper, not more expensive as they age. However, global inflation, rising manufacturing costs, and and tariffs have, as Sony said, resulted in economic uncertainty.