There is hefty inflation and gamers don’t seem to be escaping it either. Of course, you already pay more for the power you use for your console, but that game console itself is getting more expensive too. At least, the PlayStation 5 is. Will you be paying more for your Nintendo Switch and Xbox soon, too?
It was quite a scare this morning when we saw the news go by. Sony increases the prices of the PlayStation 5 in a large part of the world. Now you pay for the disc version 499.99 euros, but this becomes 549.99 euros. The digital version does not escape inflation either. This was 399.99 euros but has now been increased to 449.99 euros.
A more expensive PlayStation 5
The price increase of the PlayStation 5 is a hard blow to gamers. Many consumers are all too eager to buy the console, but due to scarcity, the game console is barely available. The people who have been waiting a long time for the PS5 are now doubly punished by Sony. Something that does not feel very fair, of course.
Sony says it can’t do anything else. In a blog post, the company says the following: “While this price increase is necessary given the current global economic environment, our top priority remains improving deliveries of the PlayStation 5. This will allow as many players as possible to experience everything PS5 offers and what is yet to come.”
PlayStation 5 (Image: Sony)
What’s happening with the Nintendo Switch and Xbox Series S/X?
The big question, of course, is whether other console makers will go along with the PlayStation 5 price increase. We’ve asked Nintendo and Microsoft for a response, but so far they remain unanswered. So we have to make do with what the companies have previously said/done about the Nintendo Switch and Xbox Series S/X.
Nintendo, like other companies, is suffering from the chip shortage in the tech sector. Thus, this makes it harder to produce enough Switch game consoles and in addition, it also causes the price of the chips to increase. Despite this, just two weeks ago the company announced that it would not be raising the console’s prices. Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa said the following to Nikkei Asia, “Nintendo doesn’t want to push people into high costs.”
Nintendo Switch OLED (Image: Nintendo )
What Microsoft will do with the Xbox Series S and X is still the big question. Still, a price increase does not seem to be completely out of the question. For example, the company already raised the price of the Series S by 8 percent in India last month. Earlier, the price of the Series X already went up in the country. So it could just be that Microsoft is following the trend of the PlayStation 5.
