Sony’s PlayStation 5 (PS5) is already hard to find in Pakistan and is becoming more expensive by the day. The next-gen console (digital edition) currently costs around Rs 180,000 in the country, a mile apart from Rs 90,000 around a year ago. Unfortunately for gamers, this is not the end of it.
Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO, Jim Ryan, has announced through a blog post that the company is raising the official price for PS5 in select markets due to “challenging economic conditions”. He said that the company had to make a difficult decision in the face of global inflation rates as well as currency fluctuations. American customers, however, will remain unaffected.
Sony is increasing the recommended retail price of its console in Canada, Mexico, Europe, the UK, the Middle East, Africa (EMEA), Latin America, China, Australia, and Japan. The change will be effective in Japan starting September 15. Both the disc and digital editions for PS5 will see a price increase of €50 in Europe and £30 in the UK. The console will cost around ¥10,500 more in Japan.
The PS5 now costs €449.99 and €549.99 in Europe for the digital edition and disc edition respectively. This means we should expect the console to cost more than Rs 200,000 in Pakistan. It already costs around Rs 230,000 in some stores, so we may even see a staggering Rs 250,000 price tag or above.
Ryan said that Sony’s current top priority remains improving the PlayStation’s supply so more people can get access to it. He said that the price increase is a necessity “given the current global economic environment”. The CEO added that Sony will be able to ramp up production in May next year, though it still may not be enough to meet the surging demand around the globe.