The PS5 is about to get more expensive, for no real reason. If you didn’t see the news earlier this week, Sony is jacking the PS5’s price in Europe, as well as parts of southeast Asia and North America. The company claims that manufacturing costs have increased, and the price hike will help compensate.
The move has understandably made a lot of potential buyers unhappy — which is why they might be pleased to know that Microsoft and Nintendo have no intention of following suit. The Xbox and the Switch will retain their current prices for now, although both companies hedged their bets about what might happen in the future.
When Sony announced the PS5 price increase, other gaming publications got in touch with Microsoft and Nintendo to see if those companies planned to do the same thing. Gamespot got in touch with Microsoft. The company responded that it has no plans to raise Xbox prices at the moment.
On the other hand, Gamespot also received the following statement from Microsoft: “We are constantly evaluating our business to offer our fans great gaming options.” As both Facebook and Sony have raised game console prices recently, it’s not absolutely impossible that Microsoft could do the same in the future.
Eurogamer spoke with Nintendo, which provided a corporate statement from June:
“While we cannot comment on pricing strategies, we currently do not have any plans to change the price of our hardware due to inflation or increased procurement costs,” said Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa. “We will determine our future pricing strategies through careful and continued deliberations.”
The bottom line is pretty clear, from both Microsoft and Nintendo. The Xbox Series S and the Nintendo Switch will remain at $300 apiece, while the Xbox Series X will remain at $500, for the foreseeable future. Both companies reserve the right to change their minds, however.
Facebook and Sony have essentially set the precedent that raising console prices is an acceptable practice. While the Meta Quest 2 and PS5 price hikes have raised some hackles, there’s no evidence that either company’s sales have decreased. At a certain point, Microsoft and Nintendo may decide to do the same thing, as it’s likely that those two companies are facing the same kind of manufacturing cost increases.
Tom’s Guide has argued that the Meta Quest 2 price hike is pure greed, but ultimately, big tech companies can set their own prices. All consumers can do is decide whether or not a product is still worth the money.
Next: The PS5 price hike is part of a worrying trend.
