Sure, sales are strong, but a closer look makes the whole situation look rather different.
Just before the latest PlayStation 5 price increase took effect on April 2, sales of Sony’s current-gen console in the United States hit a peak, according to data shared by Circana analyst Matt Piscatella. That says a lot about how real the fear of price hikes is among American consumers. Piscatella said that weekly unit and dollar sales of PlayStation 5 hardware reached their 2026 high in the week ending April 4 as the price increase approached. Spending on gaming hardware in the United States nearly doubled during that week compared with the same week one year earlier.
Unfortunately, Circana’s gaming industry adviser did not clarify whether those figures include both the base PlayStation 5 and the PlayStation 5 Pro, or whether they only cover the standard models. Given that the PlayStation 5 Pro is becoming increasingly attractive for higher-end gaming despite the sharp price increase, especially while PC hardware prices keep climbing, it will be interesting to see how many consoles were sold before the increase landed. It will be just as interesting to see how PlayStation 5 consoles perform this month and beyond, and whether a drop in sales will push Sony to rethink its future strategy.
Thanks to the steady price hikes of the current console generation, both the PlayStation 5 and the Xbox Series have become more expensive since their November 2020 launch, which casts a shadow over next-gen pricing as well. While the higher price of Xbox Project Helix can at least be explained by its hybrid console-PC design, the PlayStation 6 is still expected to focus on pure console gaming. Even if Sony launches it at around $700, Matthew Cassells, founder of Alderon Games, believes the company will still have a hard time convincing users to upgrade.
Who could have guessed that the people still hesitating would finally pull the trigger before the price increase? That part is almost self-explanatory…
