Sony just increased the prices for PlayStation 5 hardware yet again. The new prices, outlined below, will go into effect on April 2, 2026. If this finally made you realize that the gaming industry is well and truly fucked. Congratulations, you're correct. Of course, the same could be said about the tech industry at large but the gaming sector has been especially screwed. If it's not mass layoffs and studio closures, it's price increases. For companies such as Microsoft and Sony, it's both.
Prices for the PlayStation 5, PlayStation 5 Digital Edition, and PlayStation 5 Pro have gone up in the United States, U.K., Europe, and Japan. For both the PlayStation 5 Digital Edition and PlayStation 5 Pro, the new price sets them at $200 more than what the consoles initially launched at. The regular PlayStation 5 with the disc drive is just $150 more than its launch price.
That may sound pretty bad, because it is, but it's actually worse in Japan. In Japan, the price of the PlayStation 5 Digital Edition went from ¥39,980 at launch to ¥89,980 now. That's an increase in price of 125%. The regular PlayStation 5 went up 96%. The PS5 Pro in Japan only went up 15%, but that one launched closer to $750 in Japan, or about $50 more than it cost in the United States at launch.
Sony announced these changes on the PlayStation Blog earlier today. The reception to the price hike has been largely one of anger, irritability, and disgust. Though there are some exceptions that see this as a good thing because it justifies the PlayStation exclusives somehow. It's all quite stupid.
The actual PlayStation 5 hardware isn't the only thing hit with a price increase today. The PlayStation Portal, Sony's handheld device that just lets you stream games and doesn't play any of them natively, is also getting a price bump. The PlayStation Portal launched at $199.99 but will now be $249.99. UK pricing is going from £199.99 to £219.99, Europe prices are going from €219.99 to €249.99, and prices in Japan are going from ¥32,980 to ¥39,980.
A table showing the PS5 hardware price differences between launch and now can be found below. Thanks to SplashWaver on ResetEra for putting together the chart initially. It should also be noted that all of the prices shown are shown without taxes.
| Region | Model | Launch Price | New Price | Change | % Increase |
| U.S. | PS5 | $499.99 | $649.99 | +$150 | +30.0% |
| U.S. | Digital | $399.99 | $599.99 | +$200 | +50.0% |
| U.S. | PS5 Pro | $699.99 | $899.99 | +$200 | +28.6% |
| U.K. | PS5 | £449.99 | £569.99 | +£120 | +26.7% |
| U.K. | Digital | £359.99 | £519.99 | +£160 | +44.4% |
| U.K. | PS5 Pro | £699.99 | £789.99 | +£90 | +12.9% |
| Europe | PS5 | €499.99 | €649.99 | +€150 | +30.0% |
| Europe | Digital | €399.99 | €599.99 | +€200 | +50.0% |
| Europe | PS5 Pro | €799.99 | €899.99 | +€100 | +12.5% |
| Japan | PS5 | ¥49,980 | ¥97,980 | +¥48,000 | +96.0% |
| Japan | Digital | ¥39,980 | ¥89,980 | +¥50,000 | +125.1% |
| Japan | PS5 Pro | ¥119,980 | ¥137,980 | +¥18,000 | +15.0% |
This should give you a little taste of what the next generation of consoles will be at launch. In fact, if things continue as they are, do not be surprised when the next Xbox and PlayStation consoles debut well in excess of $1,000. As it currently stands, rumors continue to suggest that both Microsoft and Sony are aiming for next-gen console releases in late 2027.
This is now the second major price increase for the PlayStation 5 console hardware. In August 2022, Sony increased the price in basically every global market except the United States. The United States then got hit with a $50 price increase in August 2025. In that three year gap, Sony also increased prices on PlayStation Plus subscriptions and DualSense controllers. They also slipped in a cheeky little price increase for just the Digital Edition at the same time they announced a slimmer PlayStation 5 model.
