Most expensive PlayStation ever released, ‘prices will not drop anytime soon’

This article was last updated on November 7, 2024

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Most expensive PlayStation ever released, ‘prices will not drop anytime soon’

Just under 800 euros. That is the price of the latest version of the PlayStation 5 that Sony is launching today, the PlayStation 5 Pro. You don’t get a disc drive for that price; There is also no support to place the console upright. It is the most expensive game console that the company puts on the market and yet the device is already sold out at some stores.

The high price for the game console is part of a trend. Where you could previously count on a price reduction on already released game consoles after a few years, this is no longer an option these days.

In fact, manufacturers sometimes increase the prices of gaming consoles that they have previously brought to the market.

‘Unprecedented step’

Last year, Microsoft increased the suggested retail price of the Xbox Series X, released in 2020, by 50 euros. Sony did the same thing a year earlier with the PlayStation 5.

“This was an unprecedented step,” said Manu Rosier, responsible for market analysis at researcher Newzoo. “Previously, the prices of game consoles were lowered after a few years to appeal to consumers with tighter budgets, and certainly not increased.”

Anyone who wants to find a cheaper game console must rely on the second-hand market or temporary offers from stores. Around Black Friday, shops sometimes offer discounts of a few tens of euros. Structural price reductions do not seem to be possible.

The fact that game consoles are now becoming more expensive is partly because everything has risen in price. “There are global supply chain issues, especially a chip shortage,” says Rosier. “There are rising wages, energy prices and transportation costs that make price reductions less feasible.”

With the PlayStation 5 Pro, Sony is launching a device that exceeds the competition in terms of computing power and graphics. This requires the fastest chips and they are simply pricey, says Daniël Citroen, technology sector specialist at ING. “It structurally costs more money to design and produce these types of chips. You are making chips at such a micro level, and that makes it more difficult and expensive.”

Chip manufacturers are increasing production, but that takes time. In addition, there are only three major parties that make the most advanced chips: Intel, TSMC and Samsung. Shopping at a competitor is almost not an option. The vast majority of chips that are produced, about 85 percent, are older chips for simpler processes.

GTA VI

In the American market, game console manufacturers generally opt for more competitive prices than in Europe and Japan. Consumers are not afraid of the higher prices. “There was certainly more demand for PlayStations than there were copies in the first few years. Sony therefore had no pressure to lower the price,” says Rosier.

He does not expect a change in policy anytime soon, also because consumers will have an extra reason to purchase a new gaming console with the popular GTA VI next year. To that game is going to be huge worldwide looking forward to it.

Competitor Nintendo also does not seem to feel much urgency to implement major price reductions. The current game console, the Nintendo Switch, came onto the market in 2017 for 330 euros, the same model costs 280 euros seven years later.