PlayStation Store Price Surges Anger Gamers, Red Dead 2 Highlights Problem

We all appreciate a good discount, especially when the cost of both hardware and software have increased dramatically over the past decade.

However, you would hope that discounts would be fair but it seems as though the PlayStation Store has taken a questionable approach when it comes to price cuts.

It is not uncommon for Sony to regularly discount some of the most popular titles in its PlayStation Store, especially if they are celebrating an anniversary or a sequel has just been announced for example.

However, sometimes a game gets a discount just because, according to some eagle-eyed users, some of them just do not add up.

This comes after user DarXIV took to r/playstation earlier this week with an interesting discovery.

“Was excited to finally purchase until I realized the price was lower on my wife's account,” they shared alongside a screenshot of the discrepancy.

DarXIV on r/playstation

The screenshot shows that on one PS Store, the cost of Red Dead Redemption 2: Ultimate Edition was $19.99 down from $99.99 whilst on the other account, it was $14.99 down from $99.99.

Despite being the exact same game and in the same region, one discount was just 80% off whilst the other was 85%.

“My wife doesn't play much and so buying it on her account may not be the best decision to keep everything easily accessible for me,” they explained.

“Seeing this soured me on buying it quite a bit.

And for reference. Same region, same playstation, same currency, etc.”

Not only that but this is not an exception as previous PlayStation users have reported the same issue over the years.

Is there an explanation?

We did reach out to Sony for comment but have yet to receive a reply so we can only rely on speculation for now.

According to user 8bitsleuth, there's a feeling it could be down to targeted marketing per account or even region.

“Steam, Xbox, and PlayStation on rare occasions offer targeted discounts, either to encourage users to play more, or try a genre they otherwise have no interest in,” they explained.

“These offers should not be confused with the exploitative time-based pricing supermarkets are trying to introduce.”

Of course, this has not been confirmed by Sony but it would make sense, especially in this world of capitalism.

So in the future, it is definitely worth checking if others in your household have a larger discount to you when it comes to select titles on the PlayStation Store.