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Sony is raising the price of its PlayStation 5 game console in several markets including Europe and the UK in what analysts said was an attempt to get ahead of US President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
The Japanese group cited “a backdrop of a challenging economic environment, including high inflation and fluctuating exchange rates”, as the reason behind its “tough decision” to raise the price about 11 per cent in Europe to €500 and about 10 per cent in the UK to £430 from April 14.
The increase, which will also apply to some markets in the Middle East and Africa, as well as Australia and New Zealand, could foreshadow a price rise in the US. A significant proportion of Sony’s PS5 production is located in China, which faces US tariffs of up to 145 per cent.
Analysts said the levies could push up the price of the four-year-old console in the US, since Sony typically tries to maintain relatively even pricing around the world.
Serkan Toto, head of games consultancy Kantan Games, said that by raising prices in Europe, Sony was probably paving the way for a significant price increase in the US.
The timing was helpful to the company, he said, not just because of the backdrop of tariffs, but because of the launch later this year of the much-anticipated Grand Theft Auto VI video game.
“They are increasing the price ahead of the GT6 launch, when the demand for that game will be so big people, maybe, won’t care about the price hike for the console,” said Toto. “This is most probably the biggest launch of a video game ever.”
Bloomberg Intelligence forecast last week that Sony and Nintendo could need to raise prices by 30 per cent as a result of the tariffs.
David Gibson, at MST Financial, said Sony’s decision to raise prices outside the US could have been driven by an attempt to partially offset what was likely to be a significant negative impact for console sales in the US once the tariffs hit.
“It does make sense to raise prices elsewhere at this time of year, since demand is seasonally weak anyway, and customers would suffer less sticker shock later in the year when seasonal demand picks up,” said analyst Pelham Smithers.
Other console makers have been seeking to counteract the US-China trade war through alternative means. Nintendo has been shifting production to Vietnam ahead of the launch of the Switch 2 and has delayed US pre-orders on account of the duties.
Sony did not immediately respond to a request for comment.