Sony is raising prices on PS5 consoles, citing 'challenging economic environment'

Stop us if you've heard this one before: A major video game console maker announced that it's raising prices here in the United States due to "a challenging economic environment."

On August 20 — just hours before the tech world dialed into the Made by Google Pixel 10 launch — Sony announced that it's raising the recommended prices for PS5 consoles by $50 for U.S. retailers. The new prices will likely take effect starting Thursday, August 21, though retailers may implement the new prices at different times.

The news was shared on the PlayStation website in a short statement by Isabelle Tomatis, Vice President of Global Marketing at Sony Interactive Entertainment.

"Similar to many global businesses, we continue to navigate a challenging economic environment. As a result, we’ve made the difficult decision to increase the recommended retail price for PlayStation 5 consoles in the U.S. starting on August 21...The recommended retail prices for PlayStation 5 accessories remain unchanged, and we have no other price changes to announce for additional markets."

Effective tomorrow, the new recommended retail prices for PS5 consoles will be:

• PlayStation 5 – $549.99

• PlayStation 5 Digital Edition – $499.99

• PlayStation 5 Pro – $749.99

Sony didn't announce price changes for shoppers in any other countries, and the statement didn't reveal whether PS5 bundles would be impacted, though this seems likely.

While the statement doesn't mention tariffs specifically, the phrase "challenging economic environment" is a common euphemism for tech companies raising prices because of President Trump's tariffs.

When Nintendo announced that it was raising prices on the original Switch consoles beginning August 3, the company cited "market conditions" as the reason. And when Microsoft announced price increases on Xbox consoles back in April, it also cited "market conditions."

As Mashable has previously reported, the latest round of tariffs from the White House (both threatened and actual) could have an outsized impact on video game consoles and gaming accessories.

"[A] lot of the big electronic brands may have avoided some tariffs by stockpiling inventories earlier in the year, before tariffs were announced," said Rick Kowalski, Senior Director of Business Intelligence at the Consumer Technology Association, in a previous interview with Mashable regarding tariffs. "Those stockpiles will only last a few months at most, so eventually, importers will need to restock, and they'll import more products at the higher tariff rates."