If you bought a PlayStation 5 in 2020 for the original $400 / $500 price, consider yourself lucky. By the end of next week it will cost at least $150 more. Sony cites “pressures in the global economic landscape” for the decision. How relatable.
For a console generation that has been defined as much by bad news about canceled games and studio closures as it has new hit releases, it’s an especially tough time for Sony to try to justify the move. As sympathetic as one might be to the plight of the modern-day tech company in these unprecedented times, some would argue that Sony hasn’t really offered anything this generation that makes the PS5 so invaluable it feels worth the extra $150 from what it cost in 2020.
So now the internet is reacting with a mix of disbelief at the console maker’s audacity, annoyance at the circumstances that got us here, nostalgia for when consoles actually went down in price, and worry about what this could mean for the price of the PlayStation 6 whenever it launches in 2027 or beyond.
Kevin Butler. $299.
I miss when consoles actually went down in price the longer the generation went on… https://t.co/aG530XWAX4 pic.twitter.com/kU9BWvPWwp
— Radec (@realradec) March 27, 2026
If nothing changes I wouldn’t be surprised if the base PS6 launches at $700 or more. pic.twitter.com/6334p0AVac
— Stealth (@Stealth40k) March 27, 2026
2010s: “If millennials stopped spending money on smashed avocado and expensive coffee, they could afford a house”
2020s: “If millennials stopped spending money on eggs and gasoline, they could afford a PS5” https://t.co/LZw1BAPPwZ
— Daniel Ahmad (@ZhugeEX) March 27, 2026
On the one hand, tariffs and the global economy are making prices go up for everything
On the other hand, who the hell in heaven and earth would buy one of these in 2026 https://t.co/SpeWaTMf10
— Paul Tassi (@PaulTassi) March 27, 2026
$650…..for a base PS5 https://t.co/4m3fU2DL1r pic.twitter.com/mW9MlHQPgn
— TheNCSmaster (@TheNCSmaster) March 27, 2026
Consoles used to get cheaper as they got older, and the PS5 is coming up on six years old this November. Sony even said the console was nearing the “latter stage of its life cycle” back in 2024, and it doesn’t have a whole lot to show for it beyond Sony’s several failed live-service games, a bloody trail of dead studios, and Astro Bot, a game about celebrating the PlayStation legacy that is conspicuously lacking in characters from PS5 games.
And with reports that Sony is moving away from PC ports, great games like Ghost of Yotei and promising upcoming releases like Saros and Marvel’s Wolverine won’t be playable on anything but a PS5. Now if you want in on this hot mess, you gotta pay $600 at a minimum. Not a particularly compelling sales pitch, Sony. Especially if those same people will have to consider the cost of upgrading to a PS6 in just the next few years. And what will that cost. $1,000?
