PS5
Sony is sort of a brutal opponent for Microsoft at this point, already having won the console war but taking the opportunity to rub it in at every turn.
The latest development here is that for its Days of Play sale, Sony has cut the prices of several pieces of hardware and bundles, including the following:
- PS5 Pro – $649 ($50 off)
- PS5 Digital BO6 Bundle – $399 ($109 off)
- PS5 Disc BO6 Bundle – $449 ($109 off)
- Even PS VR2 – $349 ($50 off)
Hardware like controllers and headsets have price cuts as well. All of this is directly opposed to large-scale Xbox price hikes that occurred over “economic conditions,” namely Trump’s global tariffs, but at least for now, Sony is happy to run in the opposite direction for PlayStation. In contrast, here are the Xbox price hikes:
- Xbox Series S 512 GB – Up from $300 to $379
- Xbox Series S 1 TB GB – Up from $350 to $430
- Xbox Series X Digital – Up from $450 to $550
- Xbox Series X – Up from $500 to $600
- Xbox Series X 2TB – $600 to $740
Xbox Prices
Here was the statement Xbox gave at the time:
“We understand that these changes are challenging, and they were made with careful consideration given market conditions and the rising cost of development. Looking ahead, we continue to focus on offering more ways to play more games across any screen and ensuring value for Xbox players”
So now we are in a bizarre situation where at least during this sale, an Xbox Series S costs $30 more than a digital PS5 that comes with Black Ops 6. And a PS5 Pro costs $90 less than the high-storage Xbox Series X. This is also a scenario where Xbox has made it clear loads of its big first-party releases will come to PlayStation. In fact, Xbox is now one of the largest publishers on PlayStation.
Play Puzzles & Games on Forbes
It’s just a wild scenario that we haven’t seen before. It doesn’t seem possible for Xbox to just scale back its prices now if people have started paying these prices. It is also not clear if it is sustainable for Sony to keep these prices for long or avoid hiking its own prices down the road. Tariffs are now lower than when Xbox did its hikes, but US trade policy has been changing by the day. This past week Trump demanded Apple start making iPhones in the US or face a 50% tariff. It’s hard to know what to expect day to day.
But if you don’t have a PlayStation yet, it is a little hard to imagine there is going to be a better time to pick one up in the near future.
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