Pushing Buttons: Sony’s PS5 price hike shows play does have limits

Prices of PlayStation 5 consoles are rising despite the tough financial situations many are in - even as PS sales are at $20bn

I am back from a week of running around Gamescom at a convention centre in Cologne, drinking German beer out of deceptively tiny-looking glasses, only to discover that Sony is - in this economy! - raising the price of the PlayStation 5. The cost will remain the same in the US but everywhere else it will rise by up to 20%; in the UK, it will increase 6%, from 449.99 to 479.99 (or 359.99 to 389.99 for the cheaper model that has no disc drive). The hike is steepest (21%) in Sony's heartland of Japan.

Given that middle earners are trimming costs and lower earners are facing heartbreaking choices between, for instance, food and heating when energy prices double this winter, this news has put me into a stage of late-stage-capitalism rage. Many are striking because people can't afford to live any more. Small businesses are will close because they're not going to be able to absorb endless increases in costs. All of us are worried, many of us are struggling. This is not the time to pass along increases in manufacturing costs to customers. Sony is displaying an unfortunate arrogance that reminds me of the early days of PS3, when then-PlayStation boss Ken Kutaragi suggested that people should simply work more hours to afford the console's $599 launch price. The fact that the increase is highest in the two markets Sony dominates - Japan and Europe - displays unseemly complacency.