PlayStation hikes prices after Xbox — inflation or just peer pressure? Here’s what each model will now cost.

Sony is raising the price of its PlayStation 5 consoles in the U.S, the company confirmed via PlayStation Blog on Wednesday.

"Similar to many global businesses, we continue to navigate a challenging economic environment. As a result, we’ve made the difficult decision to increase the recommended retail price for PlayStation 5 consoles in the U.S. starting on August 21," Sony says.

Here are the new prices for each PlayStation 5 console model currently available:

• PlayStation 5 – $549.99
• PlayStation 5 Digital Edition – $499.99
• PlayStation 5 Pro – $749.99

This is a flat $50 increase across the board from the $500, $450, and $700 price points each console previously commanded. Sony adds that at this time, accessories are not going up in price.

It's worth keeping in mind Sony previously raised the price of all PlayStation 5 DualSense controllers.

It's also worth noting that while this is the first price hike for the system in the U.S. this year, the cost of a PlayStation 5 already went up outside of the U.S, with Sony raising prices for certain models in Australia, Europe, the U.K, and New Zealand back in April.

This also comes as Microsoft raised prices on its consoles and accessories back in May, increasing the cost of a standard Xbox Series X to $599.

Nintendo has opted not to raise the prices of its brand-new Nintendo Switch 2 console just yet, but the company has raised the prices of accessories and the original Nintendo Switch, which launched all the way back in 2017.

Why are console prices going up?

Console manufacturers continue to dance carefully, weaving threads of "Macroeconomics" and "challenging financial climates" but ultimately it all comes back to safe factors, with the U.S. Trump administration implementing tariffs on various countries where console components are sourced.

As the prices go up, these companies are deciding it's better to raise the cost of a product rather than taking certain financial losses.

Notably, while we did get a release date of October 16 for the upcoming ROG Xbox Ally handhelds during Gamescom 2025, Microsoft has not yet confirmed the prices for the devices (though leaks peg the higher-end Xbox Ally X at $900, with the regular Xbox Ally at $550) instead saying that more details are coming in the weeks ahead.

Hardware skyrockets, but publishers seem skittish on raising game prices...for now

While hardware continues to go up, game publishers are significantly more hesitant to try and increase the prices of gaming software. Nintendo has introduced the $80 price point with Mario Kart World and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom for the Nintendo Switch 2.

Following that, Microsoft announced that it was raising the prices of some of its games this fall, starting with Obsidian Entertainment's upcoming science-fiction role-playing game, The Outer Worlds 2.

This decision was then reversed a couple of weeks ago, and so far, no other gaming publishers have stepped up to announce an $80 price for games.

It's possible (even likely) that this could change next year, but at least for 2025, $70 appears to be the upper-limit outside of a handful of Nintendo titles.

The main question point is around the impending arrival of Take-Two Interactive and Rockstar Games' upcoming title, Grand Theft Auto 6. This game is slated to arrive in May 2026, and is widely expected to be a cultural juggernaut.

The game's official price has not yet been announced, but if it does go above $70, I can easily envision multiple game publishers again trying to push for a similar new price point.