PlayStation gamers slam 'weird' PS5 price increase: 'I don't get it'

Sony has just announced that PlayStation 5 consoles are getting a price increase in Europe, Australia and New Zealand, and their explanation as to why is leaving a little to be desired.

Over on the r/PS5 subreddit, commenters are extremely confused about Sony’s decision to increase Digital Edition PS5s specifically, and why the gaming giant is targeting Europe, of all places.

“This seems weird, 4 years and a half in a generation and it is more expensive compared to launch,” commented user ViewPsychological933.

“Maybe when PS6 arrives, I can still sell my PS5 at the same price I bought it on release.”

“So the digital edition will be the same price as the disc drived ones? What?” replied user mrtars.

Yeah, I’m not entirely sure I get it either.

On one hand, the base cause of this seems simple. On the PlayStation Blog, they blame the price increase on a “challenging economic environment, including high inflation and fluctuating exchange rates”.

I think what they’re trying to say is “the United States government’s tariffs are making stuff difficult to gauge, so we’re just gonna increase prices to be on the safe side.”

However, there are two problems with this.

First, why the hell is Europe, Australia and New Zealand getting screwed over here? The value of the euro is increasing, whereas the value of the dollar is dropping, so shouldn’t these price increases be affecting America?

Secondly, why are Digital Edition PS5s being targeted here, whereas the price of the Disc Drive peripheral for Digital Edition PS5s is lowering?

Don’t Sony make more money off of digital sales, considering the manufacturing cost associated with physical games? So why would they choose to make the more profitable console more expensive?

My theory is that Europe is footing the bill for the United States. They can’t increase the price of consoles over there, because people are already struggling to afford them as it is.

As far as the Digital Edition price increase goes… well, perhaps Sony is planning to increase the price of physical PS5 discs, much like Nintendo is with the Nintendo Switch 2, and this is a sort of soft build-up for that.

Either way, expect this to get worse before it gets better.