Following on from yesterday’s news that Sony have made the decision to increase the price of both the disc-based and digital-only models of the PS5, it hasn’t taken long for not one but both of Sony’s nearest competitors to respond. And both Microsoft with their Xbox Series X/S consoles and Nintendo via the family of Switch consoles, have iterated that they have no plans at present to demand more from consumers who may be interested in either hardware.
If you remember, yesterday saw Sony publish ablog post– which itself was referred to as a price increase in “select markets”, when in reality this hike affected most if not all countries the company’s console is available in. Except it seems the US where prices remain unchanged. In mainland Europe, the UK, Japan, Australia and beyond, the price of both PS5 models is up by an average of $45 based on current exchange rates at the time of writing. The worst hit territory is China, where both models cost 400 Chinese Yuan more – equating to an increase of around $58.
Explaining the decision, Sony Interactive Entertainment President & CE Jim Ryan put this down to “high global inflation rates, as well as adverse currency trends”, but not before stating that the current “global economic environment is a challenge that many of you around the world are no doubt experiencing”. A statement some have picked up on and noted as feeling somewhat tone-deaf given the nature of this blog post.
Mere hours after this news hit though – and likely a consequence of striking while the figurative iron was still hot – Microsoft put out a statement confirming that they would not be following Sony with a similar increase in cost to both the Xbox Series X or S models. In a statement issued to media, Microsoft simply added that, in so far as UK pricing goes: “our Xbox Series S suggested retail price remains from £249.99 and the Xbox Series X is from £449.99.”. The only caveat to this being that the company added to this by stating the following: “we are constantly evaluating our business to offer our fans great gaming options” which on the surface, doesn’t necessarily rule out any price change in the foreseeable future.
That short-term assurance has also come out of the Nintendo camp today as well, stating that the company had “no plans to increase the trade price of its hardware”, going on to elaborate on this and, like Microsoft, not entirely rule out the possibility that this may happen in the future. “While we cannot comment on pricing strategies, we currently do not have any plans to change the price of our hardware due to inflation or increased procurement costs in each country. We will determine our future pricing strategies through careful and continued deliberations.” The base Switch model remains at $299.99 MSRP. The Xbox Series X and S models are priced at $499.99 and $299.99 respectively.
It would be foolish and a tad naive to assume that no manner of price hike is possible for either Xbox Series or Nintendo Switch models, but for the moment at least, both Microsoft and Nintendo have seemingly gained a small amount of goodwill with such quick responses. A far-cry from Sony’s own decision, which as you might’ve guessed, has gone down as well as a lead balloon. The question is: will these decisions – from any of the big three – have any real impact on the successes of their respective products?
