Former Sony President says price cut for PlayStation 5 is unlikely, and it’s “a real shame” compared to the PS2 days
A few months ago, Sony increased the prices of the PS5, PS5 Pro, and PlayStation Portal in several regions due to the ongoing memory crisis that continues to affect the technology industry. We’ve also seen Nintendo and Xbox announce console price hikes this year. Valve’s new Steam Machine has another piece of hardware to suffer from inflated prices when it launched last month.
The rising cost of DRAM and NAND has pushed up manufacturing expenses across the board, forcing several companies to adjust the prices of their products. It’s happening to all sorts of hardware, including gaming handhelds. And if you were hoping the PS5 would eventually become cheaper, you may want to keep your expectations in check.
PlayStation prices aren’t likely to drop during this generation
In a recent interview, former Sony Interactive Entertainment Worldwide Studios President Shawn Layden shared his thoughts on the current state of the console market and why hardware prices are unlikely to follow the same path as previous generations. The PlayStation 5 launched for $499/$399 in 2020 – now it costs $649/$599 for the disc drive and digital versions, respectively.
Layden calls the current pricing situation “a real shame”, especially when looking back at the PlayStation 2. He noted that the PS2 became the best-selling console of all time, with nearly 160 million units sold, and a significant portion of those sales came after Sony reduced its price to $199. That price cut made the console much more accessible to a wider audience and helped extend its success for years. In his view, that’s something the current generation is unlikely to repeat.
“I left PlayStation just before the PS5 launch, so I don’t have any internal information on that. We know the chip and semiconductor market is under a lot of pressure right now. After cryptocurrencies, AI is now obsessing manufacturers. So, console manufacturers are having trouble achieving economies of scale. As a result, hardware prices aren’t falling anymore.
And that’s a real shame. Take the PS2, the best-selling console of all time with nearly 160 million units sold. If you look at the numbers, a large proportion of sales came after the console’s price dropped to $199. The price cut boosted sales, and that’s probably something we won’t see in the current generation.”
Shawn Layden, via playstationinside.fr [translated]
Unfortunately for gamers, the situation doesn’t appear to be improving anytime soon. The memory crisis shows no sign of slowing down, and industry experts suggest that memory prices are expected to rise at least twice more during the second half of 2026. Consoles used to slowly drop in price after they launched, but six years later, the PS5 is up to $200 more expensive.
Manufacturers could soon again face higher production costs, potentially leading to further price increases for gaming hardware instead of discounts. On top of that, PlayStation is moving towards a digital-only future, which will make it impossible to buy pre-owned copies of games for cheap and will narrow the pricing to that set by the PlayStation Store or key resellers.
