Report: Sony testing 'elastic pricing' on PlayStation Store, same games will cost more or less for different users

Sony is reportedly testing dynamic pricing on select first-party software sold on the PlayStation Store, cost analysis website PS Prices has found.

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Sony may be testing a new way to price its games in a way that takes into account specific user metrics, including play time and location. Price-tracking site PS Prices reports that Sony has been conducting a dynamic pricing experiment since November 2025 in a bid to test price elasticity on the PlayStation Store, likely to determine price tolerance in specific geographies.

Sony is believed to be conducting A/B testing (aka split testing) with software prices. This effectively means that users may see different prices for the same games sold on the PlayStation Store. According to the data, Sony is testing both price increases and decreases of specific software.

The company also recently added the United States to the list of countries in the dynamic pricing test, and the US is actually the region with the most games--189 games reportedly have dynamic pricing as part of this model.

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Specifics are light, but we did a simple test with Assassin's Creed Unity on the PS Store that seems to indicate dynamic pricing. How this works exactly is unclear, as it's said that Sony is testing dynamic pricing of its own games.

As for the price difference, Unity was actually cheaper after we signed into our PlayStation Network account. When we were signed out, AC Unity was displayed at a price of $10.79, and after we signed in, that price fell to $8.99.

Check below for the findings from PS Prices:

In early March 2026 we discovered that Sony had included PlayStation's largest market - the US - in the pricing experiment.

Since November 2025, Sony has been running A/B price tests in the PlayStation Store. Over four months the experiment grew from 50 games in 30 regions to over 190 games in 70+ regions - including the largest market, the US. Sony is testing prices on its own AAA titles and launched a new IPT_LTM program with elastic pricing.

• 189 games in the experiment in the US - the largest set among all regions
• Discounts in the US are significantly deeper than in Europe: up to -27,8% (HELLDIVERS 2), -24,4% (The Last of Us Part I)
• New IPT_LTM program - 104 games, US only, testing elastic pricing in both directions (including price increases)
• Sony first-party hits are included: Spider-Man 2, God of War Ragnarök, Gran Turismo 7
• Japan remains the only major market that is not included

Sony has yet to formally announce any kind of dynamic pricing to its digital storefront, however reports are gaining traction and the general sentiment is frustration and confusion among gamers. Sony may issue some sort of statement in the coming days if the controversy doesn't die down.

The company has been focusing on improvements to its profit margins for quite some time, and only more recently hit double-digit margins of 16%. Sony had previously struggled with maintaining double-digit profit margins as it paid for the $3.7 billion acquisition of Bungie while also recording write-downs for various software, as well as managing lower-than-expected sales results.