The Japanese Sony group announced, Thursday, an increase in the selling prices of PlayStation 5 devices in most of its markets, except for the United States, due to high inflation rates and the effects of unfavorable exchange rates.
PS5 prices in Europe have increased by 10% to €549.99 for the console with a disc drive and by 12.5% to €449.99 for its digital edition, according to a statement posted on the official PlayStation Blog.
Its prices are also increasing “with immediate effect” in the UK, China, Australia, Mexico and Canada, while it will only be raised in Japan from September 15.
Asia Pacific, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa are also involved.
“We are seeing high levels of inflation, as well as negative currency effects, affecting consumers and putting many industrial sectors under pressure,” Jim Ryan, president of Sony Interactive Entertainment, the gaming entity, said in the video group statement.
“Because of these harsh economic conditions, we have made the difficult decision to increase the PS5’s recommended retail prices” in different countries, Mr. Ryan added, emphasizing that it was a “necessity.”
The reason for the bailout of Sony from the United States has not been determined, although inflation is very high in the world’s largest economy.
Mr. Ryan also noted that Sony’s priority remains to improve production of its PS5 consoles, which suffer from constant disruption in its supply chains, which often makes access to these products difficult for consumers.
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