Sony is raising PS5 prices by around £90/$100 starting April 2nd, blaming component costs driven by AI demand. Analysts say Xbox and Switch 2 price hikes may be next. If you were planning to buy, you have about five days.
Sony just made a lot of people's week significantly worse. On March 27th, the company announced price increases across its entire PlayStation 5 hardware lineup, effective April 2nd, 2026. That's five days from now.
The numbers are not subtle.
The New Prices
United Kingdom
- PS5 (Disc): £569.99
- PS5 Digital: £519.99
- PS5 Pro: £789.99
- PlayStation Portal: £219.99
That's a £90 jump on the standard PS5 and Digital Edition, and the same on the Pro. The Portal gets off lighter with a £20 bump.
United States
- PS5 (Disc): $649.99
- PS5 Digital: $599.99
- PS5 Pro: $899.99
- PlayStation Portal: $249.99
That's roughly an 18% price increase on the standard model in the US, about $100 more than before.
Europe
- PS5 (Disc): €649.99
- PS5 Digital: €599.99
- PS5 Pro: €899.99
- PlayStation Portal: €249.99
Sony's Explanation
Sony Interactive Entertainment's VP of global marketing called it a "necessary step" due to "continued pressures in the global economic landscape." That's the corporate way of saying RAM and storage components are getting significantly more expensive, and Sony can't absorb the margin hit anymore.
The root cause is AI. Data centres run by the big tech companies are hoovering up memory and storage at a pace that's driven prices up across the board. Sony likely had component price protections locked in for a fixed period, and that period has ended. According to Ampere Analysis research director Piers Harding-Rolls, Sony moved now specifically to protect its "slim hardware margins."
Who Might Be Next?
Harding-Rolls was direct about it: "It wouldn't be a surprise if Microsoft and Nintendo followed suit in the not-too-distant future."
There's already reporting that Microsoft is mulling an Xbox Series X/S price increase, and with Sony having gone first, there's less pressure on Microsoft to hold the line. Nintendo's situation is messier: they're still early in the Switch 2's lifecycle and don't want to alienate new adopters. But Bloomberg reported earlier this year that a Switch 2 price bump may be coming regardless.
The timing is genuinely bad for everyone. GTA 6 is expected in November 2026 and was supposed to drive a wave of new console buyers. Higher hardware prices could blunt that effect significantly.
What This Means If You're Shopping
If you're in the market for a PS5 right now, disc or digital, April 2nd is your cutoff. After that, you're paying the new rate everywhere Sony's pricing applies.
For those hunting deals, it's also worth checking third-party and grey-market key stores now. Pre-increase stock may still be available at old pricing through certain retailers depending on how quickly they update their shelves.
For everyone else, this marks a broader shift: the era of "wait for a price drop" may be officially over for this console generation. We're more likely to see longer console lifespans, which means any existing PS5 deal becomes more valuable by comparison, and game pass / subscription options look a bit more attractive for anyone who can't justify the hardware cost.
The console you own now just got more valuable. The one you were putting off might be harder to justify.
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