SA could be in the firing line as Sony hikes PS5 console prices

Remember the days when the price of a console slowly tapered off as its maker built up hype for whatever came next? We do. One global pandemic and a trade war later, however, and gaming companies hold all the cards. Just look at Nintendo’s recent greed as proof, or Sony’s latest decision to hike the price of the PS5. Again.

“With a backdrop of a challenging economic environment, including high inflation and fluctuating exchange rates, SIE has made the tough decision to raise the recommended retail price (RRP) of the PlayStation 5 console in select markets in Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), Australia, and New Zealand,” it said.

PlayStation R5 to spare?

Expect “high inflation and fluctuating exchange rates” to be the default excuse when your favourite tech products inevitably see their prices hiked in the coming months. Nintendo has already halted Switch 2 pre-orders in the US while this game of tariff tennis continues. Sony saw dollar signs flash before its eyes and has seized the opportunity to hike the price of the PS5, likely to cover the cost of increased tariffs in the US.

Sony’s blog post doesn’t mention which countries in the Middle East and Africa region will feel the sting of a price hike, instead prompting customers to reach out to their local Sony retailers and distributors. We got in touch with SA’s local PS5 distributor, Koodoo, to find out what’s in store for SA. We didn’t like what we heard:

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“SIE is increasing the retail price due to the challenging economic environment, including high inflation and fluctuating exchange rates. Local dynamics are duly considered, and we are currently working with SIE to define local pricing.”

From this, we can assume South Africans will suffer under the new pricing regime. When that will come into effect, or how much late-to-the-party Saffas will have to pay for the PS5 going forward, remains to be seen. It’s unlikely to match the hikes in place for Europe, Australia, and New Zealand, but you can see those here.