PlayStation once again matches its biggest rival. Just yesterday, Microsoft announced that a price hike was on the horizon for the company’s Xbox Series X, along with its ‘Netflix for games’ Game Pass subscription tiers. This morning, with as blank a face as possible, PlayStation’s South African distributor, Gamefinity, warned MyBroadband that a PS5 price hike was coming. Sooner than you might’ve hoped for.
And on payday as well…
This is the second time South Africa has suffered a PS5 price hike since its launch in 2020, though the first was due to a broader hike from Sony’s higher-ups. The incoming hike is a local one, only affecting South Africans, and apparently, for good reason. According to Gamefinity’s CEO Mario Dos Santos, the company’s decision was based purely on the Rand’s continued struggle, leaving it no choice but to raise the price. Just like everything else in this blasted country.
If only that made the impending rise any easier to swallow.
Let’s rip off the plaster, then. The new price of the PlayStation 5 console (with disc drive) will be R14,000, up from the R12,800 it was previously – a 9.4% increase. The PlayStation Digital Edition hasn’t been let off the hook either, with a new price of R12,000 affixed to the shelves it sits on.
Fortunately, Gamefinity has left potential buyers some time to get a console before the new prices become law, though it isn’t much. Gamefinity’s trading partners have been informed that the new prices will come into play on 17 July 2023. That’s… less than a month away for those that needed any help with the maths. Best to get moving while you still can.
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And in this corner…
What this all means for Microsoft’s worldwide price increase for the Xbox Series X, we can’t be sure. Yesterday, we said we expect Microsoft to counter PlayStation’s current pricepoint of R12,800 in South Africa to keep things fair. That was yesterday, though. Now, it’s open season for Xbox South Africa. We’ll likely see the console duke it out with the PS5 at around a R14,000 price point.