In response to ongoing global economic challenges, Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) has announced a price hike for the PlayStation 5 Digital Edition in select markets across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA), Australia, and New Zealand. The decision comes amid high inflation rates and volatile exchange rates affecting multiple regions.
The updated recommended retail prices (RRP), effective from April 14, are as follows:
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Europe: PS5 Digital Edition – €499.99
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UK: PS5 Digital Edition – £429.99
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Australia:
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Standard PS5 with Ultra HD Blu-ray disc drive – AUD $829.95
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PS5 Digital Edition – AUD $749.95
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New Zealand:
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Standard PS5 with Ultra HD Blu-ray disc drive – NZD $949.95
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PS5 Digital Edition – NZD $859.95
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Notably, there are no price changes for the standard PS5 with the Ultra HD Blu-ray disc drive in Europe and the UK. Additionally, pricing for the PS5 Pro remains unchanged across all affected markets.
As a counterbalance to the PS5 price adjustments, Sony is reducing the RRP of the standalone Disc Drive for PS5 starting April 14th:
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Europe: €79.99
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UK: £69.99
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Australia: AUD $124.95
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New Zealand: NZD $139.95
Isabelle Tomatis, Vice President of Global Marketing at SIE, acknowledged the difficulty of the decision, attributing the move to macroeconomic factors impacting the cost of hardware and regional pricing strategies.
The new pricing structure reflects Sony’s effort to navigate a complex economic landscape while continuing to support its current console generation.
As of now, there has been no statement from the company on raising the prices in other markets, but we cannot currently rule out such a hike in the near future. At the time of writing this article, the PlayStation 5 Digital Edition is retailing for Rs 44,990 in India In case you are planning to buy a PS5 in India, now might be a perfect time as some really interesting games such as Hogwarts Legacy, Blue Prince, Lost Records: Bloom & Rage Tape 2, are going to join the PlayStation Plus Game Catalog this month. You can check out the entire list of titles joining the catalog over here.
