Sony raised PS5 prices in key regions and Xbox instantly became the cheaper console, creating one of the funniest value swings in years

Xbox has rightfully been lambasted online for poor decisions and inexcusable prices, with last September’s price increases pushing things to frankly gross levels, albeit ones many argued were unavoidable due to broader market conditions (thanks, AI).

Whilst Xbox was mocked at the time, many presumed a similar price hike was coming for Sony, and while it held off for a while, they have now finally caved, citing “continued pressures in the global economic landscape,” so with that said, let’s break down the price differences between Sony and Microsoft and see which one might be better value (spoiler alert, it’s not Sony).

How Sony’s price hike compares to Xbox

Now, I am poking the bear a bit here because, of course, whatever platform you prefer will suit you best. That said, there’s quite a lot to break down when it comes to the price differences across regions.

As far as I’m aware, Sony is increasing prices across four regions, including the U.S., U.K., Europe, and Japan. These changes affect the PS5, PS5 Digital Edition, PS5 Pro, and PlayStation Portal.

I have put together a handy table to compare retail prices, so here it is:

As you can see, across several regions Xbox hardware does come in cheaper, or at the very least matches Sony on price.

It’s a bit of a shame that the days of consoles getting cheaper as a generation goes on seem to be behind us. In a perfect world, you’d expect something like a Series S at $199.99 and a Series X at $349.99, especially with newer revisions that cut costs, similar to what we saw with the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 era.

Instead, here we are, newer revisions never happened, hardware didn't get cheaper, and instead, we're watching prices go up across the industry. I suppose the best we can do now is waste a bit of water and ask our favourite AI chatbot to comfort us in these trying times.

It is also worth mentioning that this does make Xbox the cheapest place to play Grand Theft Auto VI whether it's the Series X or Series S and that is something that Xbox should definitely capitalise on.

What do you think of the price hikes from Sony?

Did you already bite the bullet and pick up a PS5 while it was more affordable, or did you hold out and now find the price increase a step too far?

For me, the PlayStation 5 is the first PlayStation generation I’ve actively missed out on. There just haven’t been enough games that appeal to me personally, so this price hike doesn’t affect me too much, but it’s still a shame to see the industry in its current state.

With all that said, let me know your thoughts in the comments, and make sure you take part in our poll below:

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