Right before the PlayStation 5's latest price increase went into effect on April 2, sales of the Sony current-generation console peaked in the United States according to data provided by Circana's Matt Piscatella, indicating how real the fear of price increases is for consumers in the US.
“US weekly unit and $ sales of PlayStation 5 hardware reached 2026 highs during the week ending April 4th, as price increases loomed,” wrote Piscatella on Bluesky. “US spending on video game hardware for the week nearly doubled when compared to the same week a year ago.”
Unfortunately, Circana's Video Game Industry Advisor did not specify if these sales include both the base PlayStation 5 and the PlayStation 5 Pro models, or are limited to the base models. Considering that, despite a big price jump, the PlayStation 5 Pro is becoming a more enticing system for higher-end gaming amidst significant price increases of PC hardware, it will be interesting to see how many systems were sold before the price increase. It will also be very interesting to see how the PlayStation 5 units will sell this month and beyond, and whether reduced sales will push Sony to change its strategy going forward.
The constant price increases in the current console generation have made both the PlayStation 5 and the Xbox Series X|S more expensive than they were at launch in November 2020, casting a looming shadow over the next-generation systems' pricing. While the Xbox Project Helix's higher price could be justified by its hybrid console/PC design, the PlayStation 6 will continue to target pure console gaming. Even if Sony releases the system with a price in the $700 range, it may have a hard time convincing users to upgrade, according to Alderon Games founder Matthew Cassells.
About the author: Francesco De Meo has been covering video games and technology since 2012, starting his career at small outlets like Gamersyndrome and GeekSnack. After joining Wccftech gaming section in 2015, he quickly expanded his video gaming coverage with in-depth reporting, interviews with iconic industry figures such as Grasshopper Manufacture founder and No More Heroes creator Goichi "Suda51" Suda, Resident Evil series creator Shinji Mikami, Team NINJA's president and Nioh series director Fumihiko Yasuda, and Silent Hill creator Keiichiro Toyama, reviews and on-the-ground coverage of major industry events such as Gamescom and E3. When he's not reporting or reviewing, Francesco can be found playing the genres he loves most, spending time with his six cats, reading, writing music, playing guitar and drumming for his progressive rock band.
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