PS5 price increasing in Canada, Australia, Europe, and more countries

Sony is increasing the PlayStation 5's price tag in key regions like Canada, Europe, China, Mexico, and Japan--basically everywhere except the United States.

Today Sony made one of its most unpopular decisions in gaming since the PS3 era. The gaming giant is raising the price of the PlayStation 5 to reflect market inflation across the globe. Sony is one of the many Japanese games companies that saw their earnings slide as consumers pared back game spending. PlayStation's operating income dropped by nearly 50% in converted yen-to-USD rates in the Q1 period.

To make up for this drop, and to maximize hardware earnings, Sony is raising the price of the base and digital PS5 systems. The price hike, which is effective immediately except for Japan, comes months before Sony prepares the largest shipment of PlayStation 5 consoles in the history of the entire brand. Sony wants to ship 18 million PS5s during this fiscal year and plans to make Holiday 2022 the big season for PS5 availability.

Like Microsoft, Sony has traditionally sold PlayStation consoles at a loss. Game sales and services make up the lion's share of Sony's earnings. However, the PS5 recently hit positive profit margins and Sony wants to keep it that way. The company made $1.04 billion from hardware revenues in Q1 FY2022 driven by the PlayStation 5...however that was down from last year's $1.1 billion.

The PlayStation 5 has currently sold 21.7 million units, and Sony wants to hit over 37 million unit shipments by March 2023.

Check below for a full list of revised pricing for each market.

"We're seeing high global inflation rates, as well as adverse currency trends, impacting consumers and creating pressure on many industries. Based on these challenging economic conditions, SIE has made the difficult decision to increase the recommended retail price (RRP) of PlayStation 5 in select markets across Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA), Asia-Pacific (APAC), Latin America (LATAM), as well as Canada. There will be no price increase in the United States," Sony's Jim Ryan said in the announcement.

Europe

• PS5 with Ultra HD Blu-ray disc drive - €549.99
• PS5 Digital Edition - €449.99

UK

• PS5 with Ultra HD Blu-ray disc drive - £479.99
• PS5 Digital Edition - £389.99

Japan (effective Sept. 15, 2022)

• PS5 with Ultra HD Blu-ray disc drive - ¥60,478 yen (including tax)
• PS5 Digital Edition - ¥49,478 yen (including tax)

China

• PS5 with Ultra HD Blu-ray disc drive - ¥4,299 yuan
• PS5 Digital Edition - ¥3,499 yuan

Australia

• PS5 with Ultra HD Blu-ray disc drive - AUD $799.95
• PS5 Digital Edition - AUD $649.95

Mexico

• PS5 with Ultra HD Blu-ray disc drive - MXN $14,999
• PS5 Digital Edition - MXN $12,499

Canada

• PS5 with Ultra HD Blu-ray disc drive - CAD $649.99
• PS5 Digital Edition - CAD $519.99