PS5 price to increase in select markets due to global economic environment, including high inflation rates

[Yurinka]

Have other electronic goods increased in price? TVs, Phones, Fridges, Washers, Cookers, PC components, etc.

Yes.

Psvr2 doesn’t need to be Uber expensive. Let’s examine…

2 x controllers same tech as DSense
Headset with OLED + Cameras
Budget audio buds

No battery in headset, no cpu in headset - all processing offloaded to the ps5.

1/3 the price of Quest, 1/2 at most?

PSVR2 must be more expensive than Quest 2 because it has a HDR OLED vs non-HDR LCR, higher resolution, higher depth of field, eye tracking, haptic feedback in the headset, 3D audio, two controllers bundled with haptic feedback+adaptative triggers+finger position tracking.

All these specs improvements are more expensive than a low tier smartphone APU+battery. And well, Quest 2 pricing is very aggresive, selling it way under its cost, something I assume Sony won't want to do.

 

[thicc_girls_are_teh_best]

Supply certainly outpaces demand for Series S. I think they produced a lot, and well.. just want to increase demand like you said.

MS has to manage the production rate of X vs S, and have talked about the balance.. they probably have a chance to switch the balance back to X for a while now that Series S has just been so "in stock" for so long.

My point was that it is moving units... it's why MS can be ahead on unit sales and lose the revenue race different months vs. Playstation. It's out there on shelves, but that's partly because MS is replenishing stock that was sold.

Series X isn't really on shelves yet, but has enough stock to be sort of indefinitely online... if they shift production more to X we might see it start sitting on shelves too.

Series X units were definitely in better supply earlier this year though, it was to a point where Xs were constituting the majority of new units being sold. MS starting to outpace PS5 in unit sales in territories like NA coincided with the increase in Series X stock, that wasn't a coincidence.

Right now, at least for the past month maybe two, PS5 has been outselling Xbox again in NA and other places where Series were selling better like Japan. In fact I think they've basically closed up the differences from the past three quarters in just the prior month or so of increased sales in those territories due to better supply. And that's coinciding with MS having said they expect Xbox sales to be flat quarter-over-quarter for at least the next (current) quarter if not two (which would extend into FQ 2, aka October - December).

Which to me seems like they won't have as many Series X units to go around and so to increase Series S demand they're doing things like these deals. I'm not knocking them for that actually, just trying to make sense as to why those types of deals are being done during August.

 

[Dabaus]

How to kill your brand

 

[Snake29]

This is awful! I feel terrible for the people that are looking for a PS5, and now having to pay even more. This gen, Sony has REALLY tried to milk their base and it's really unfortunate. I hope I don't see people defending this, but I haven't looked through the thread yet.

Only people at launch paid the 499. I had 3 PS5 consoles at launch. Almost no one paid 499 for almost 2 years, so that price doesn’t even really excised. People paid more then 550 in general, so if you can search on the internet and want to pay 700 for bundles or second hand market the. 550 is kinda cheap for the PS5 right now. It’s not like there were any PS5 on the shelfs for 2 years for 499. It’s not gonna effect sales.

It would’ve been a completely different story if you could randomly walk into a store a saw a lot of PS5 consoles on the shelfs, but thats not the case.

 

[Darth Vader]

Incompetence? If you have a better plan dude we all want to hear it....

Do you? Because I don't know about old gamer, but I can provide you a much better plan, one that even includes PC games.

 

[rofif]

The angry market is a normal reaction.
Xbox, free2play games, sub services... even recent ps+... all serve to devalue gaming and people like to bandwagon on the cheap train and get used to it. Look at pc gamers getting used to cheap games, discounts and subs. Not very willing to pay full price for games.

So ps5 price increase is not welcome but it is a reasonable thing to do. Sony don't have as much money to eat the inflation cost as Microsoft does.
Even facebook raised their price and by whooping 100usd.

Sony is very secretive and annoying this gen - I agree. But because of what is happening to the market... the cheapening and devaluing... we will stop seeing expensive, polished games in the future. More gaas and subs incoming

 

[Bryank75]

He write on bloomberg, no?

He used to, now he is with Barrons... another finance site.

 

[Sircaw]

yeah. absolutely everything is increasing in price... it's kinda worrying.
Even my mortgage

Thank god Mortgages don't affect me.

 

[rofif]

Thank god Mortgages don't affect me.

what? fishtank won't filter itself man

 

[thicc_girls_are_teh_best]

oh man, I got baited so hard on gaf in this topic... ooof.... I should've known better
it's just 50$ which is ok. Not a big deal

Haven't read the main thread there yet on this topic, but I'm guessing some usuals were saying it was like a $100 increase, or all foreign markets going up by 20% xD.

Yet no one else has increased their prices.

Fair enough about Microsoft. Has Nintendo increased their prices?

Have other electronic goods increased in price? TVs, Phones, Fridges, Washers, Cookers, PC components, etc.

Maybe Sony was using Russian fuel to transport the PS5.

This will bite Sony in the ass whether they are right or not simply because they did it first. First 70 dollar games now this increase in console price. Sony were first to do it and will take the backlash.

Even if what you say is true they could have played it smart and waited until other companies increased their prices first.

Nintendo sells their hardware for insane profit margins already, they don't need to risk any blowback and increase pricing stave off any losses from hardware sales. Microsoft only gets a very small amount of their total profit through Xbox, and they're forecasting revenue growth in their Azure and Office services so the money they lose on Series hardware sales literally means nothing to them.

Sony are in a very unique and tight spot compared to both of them in that regard. Sucks.

Yes.


PSVR2 must be more expensive than Quest 2 because it has a HDR OLED vs non-HDR LCR, higher resolution, higher depth of field, eye tracking, haptic feedback in the headset, 3D audio, two controllers bundled with haptic feedback+adaptative triggers+finger position tracking.

All these specs improvements are more expensive than a low tier smartphone APU+battery. And well, Quest 2 pricing is very aggresive, selling it way under its cost, something I assume Sony won't want to do.

Sony sees the PSVR as a peripheral and as such they're always going to sell them at a profit margin, so yeah, they're not gonna price it to take a loss on hardware sales.

How to kill your brand

Have some faith.

 

[Gods&Monsters]

I don't understand the Fire Jim Ryan thing? Is it a meme? As if he is to blame for the price hike

The console was too cheap anyway.

 

[Papacheeks]

Yet no one else has increased their prices.

Fair enough about Microsoft. Has Nintendo increased their prices?

Have other electronic goods increased in price? TVs, Phones, Fridges, Washers, Cookers, PC components, etc.

Maybe Sony was using Russian fuel to transport the PS5.

This will bite Sony in the ass whether they are right or not simply because they did it first. First 70 dollar games now this increase in console price. Sony were first to do it and will take the backlash.

Even if what you say is true they could have played it smart and waited until other companies increased their prices first.

Nintendo is using old ass shit. So chip wise they don’t have to worry. On top of things like size, weight, of what they freight.

PS5 is way more complex and custom to make. They literally up till the past year had to change where certain components were made. On top of in first year if it’s release shrink the heat sink.

Oculus went up by $100 fucking dollars.

I think we get a cheaper redesign sooner than later.

Sony is not a trillion dollar company. And before you point to Nintendo, Nintendo spends less than a third than what Sony does re-investment wise.

Sony literally spends 4-5x the amount investment wise and has higher operating costs than Nintendo. And made like close to same amount net profit wise last year.

So you do the math.

Microsoft names billions per month on software subs alone for enterprise. Let alone their other products like azure.

You think this is something Sony wants to do after getting out of Covid and getting supply chain allotment some what sorted?

Now all of that has gone out the window with prices on everything going up. So the plastics in a console, down to the copper where Ukraine is one of the main places the world gets it from.

Hi back and look at PS3 days. They ate a lot of it because our side of certain components there were none global factors. As in tarrifs, exchange rates were not so jacked.

They were not spending tripled to quadruple price in petroleum. Fright weight, all that.

I mean it sucks. And Sony should weather the storm. But got to factor in what they also make. Cameras fir films, broadcast equipment, tv’s, phones. Costs on everything they make and they primarily are a consumer/product driven company. Nintendo is very lean in their spending. And have a product they have stock piles upon stock piles that takes less space to ship/freight.

 

[Shmunter]

Yes.


PSVR2 must be more expensive than Quest 2 because it has a HDR OLED vs non-HDR LCR, higher resolution, higher depth of field, eye tracking, haptic feedback in the headset, 3D audio, two controllers bundled with haptic feedback+adaptative triggers+finger position tracking.

All these specs improvements are more expensive than a low tier smartphone APU+battery. And well, Quest 2 pricing is very aggresive, selling it way under its cost, something I assume Sony won't want to do.

Yes, I forgot about the eye and finger tracking as well as headset haptics. The oled is definitely more luxurious than lcd.

The 3D audio however will be done by the ps5. On ps4 it needed the extra processor in the breakout box due to shortage of resources on the console - not the case on ps5 with tempest.

Some things cost more here, but there are also savings over quest and psvr1. No wifi, no processing, no battery, no storage, no breakout box.

It will close the gap closer to quest, but should not cost more. Also assuming subsidy on the set as is customary in the console space especially vr being an eco system in on itself, not just a periphery. However, If Sony end up selling this to pc too, then it will end up being sold at a profit instead of loss and cost will be jacked up markedly.

 

[IntentionalPun]

It will close the gap closer to quest, but should not cost more.

I pointed it out earlier, but I think you are underestimating just how much the Quest is subsidized.

The Quest "for business" which is the exact same hardware cost, is sold for $800, and was actually lowered from $1000:

Facebook Lowers Price of Enterprise-focused Quest to $800

With the revelation of Quest 2, Facebook has quietly knocked down the entry price for its business-focused version of the headset. Facebook only just made its Oculus for Business program openly available back in May, which basically let anyone buy a business-focused 128GB version of the original...

www.roadtovr.com

And of course PSVR2 is superior to the Valve Index and has more features really, and that costs $1000. Valve is not in the business of profiting off of hardware either. Although they aren't subsidizing it and do not have as efficient of a supply chain / higher BOM than Sony could get to, it is still indicative of how costly VR hardware actually is.

It's possible even the $800 Quest 2 for business is subsidized, as they do sell a yearly sub service for VR for enterprise to go along with it.

 

[Shmunter]

I pointed it out earlier, but I think you are underestimating just how much the Quest is subsidized.

The Quest "for business" which is the exact same hardware cost, is sold for $800, and was actually lowered from $1000:

Facebook Lowers Price of Enterprise-focused Quest to $800

With the revelation of Quest 2, Facebook has quietly knocked down the entry price for its business-focused version of the headset. Facebook only just made its Oculus for Business program openly available back in May, which basically let anyone buy a business-focused 128GB version of the original...

www.roadtovr.com

And of course PSVR2 is superior to the Valve Index and has more features really, and that costs $1000. Valve is not in the business of profiting off of hardware either. Although they aren't subsidizing it and do not have as efficient of a supply chain / higher BOM than Sony could get to, it is still indicative of how costly VR hardware actually is.

It's possible even the $800 Quest 2 for business is subsidized, as they do sell a yearly sub service for VR for enterprise to go along with it.

How much is the cost for the mobile components in the quest tho. What’s an brand name mobile phone cost with equivalent power?

Business class equipment is usually jacked up due to support agreements, service levels, etc. not necessarily reflective of the hardware. Point in proof software licensing with no physical components.

 

[DarkMage619]

The angry market is a normal reaction.
Xbox, free2play games, sub services... even recent ps+... all serve to devalue gaming and people like to bandwagon on the cheap train and get used to it. Look at pc gamers getting used to cheap games, discounts and subs. Not very willing to pay full price for games.

So ps5 price increase is not welcome but it is a reasonable thing to do. Sony don't have as much money to eat the inflation cost as Microsoft does.
Even facebook raised their price and by whooping 100usd.

Sony is very secretive and annoying this gen - I agree. But because of what is happening to the market... the cheapening and devaluing... we will stop seeing expensive, polished games in the future. More gaas and subs incoming

So are you advocating for games to get more expensive? What does 'devaluing' gaming even mean? Games have always had a wide assortment of pricing and that will continue to remain. Not every game should be $70+ and that is a good thing. Are you confusing price with quality because there are several F2P titles that are high quality. There $70 titles that aren't worth it at all.

The other thing I don't hear you mention is that if a game isn't fun it won't matter what the price is. Lower pricing for consoles and software is good for gamers. Lower prices means more people playing. More people playing means a bigger ecosystem and more support from more developers. More developers means increased competition which leads to higher quality games overall. I'm thinking you are looking at things a bit short-sightedly.

 

[Loy310]

Do you? Because I don't know about old gamer, but I can provide you a much better plan, one that even includes PC games.

Lay it on me. Tell me how you can do a better job than the current man/teams at the top of SIE.

 

[Gods&Monsters]

The other thing I don't hear you mention is that if a game isn't fun it won't matter what the price is. Lower pricing for consoles and software is good for gamers. Lower prices means more people playing. More people playing means a bigger ecosystem and more support from more developers. More developers means increased competition which leads to higher quality games overall. I'm thinking you are looking at things a bit short-sightedly.

No it doesn't. Cheap indies don't sell more than AAA just because they're cheaper and cheap consoles like the Series S don't sell more than the big boys (or Nintendo). Game Pass is cheap as fuck with a bigger install base and they still can't reach NSO or PS+.

People don't mind paying for quality like Apple, Nintendo and Sony products.

Who's competing with Sony developers? Saints Row just came out and it's also Gamescom. Everything look shite besides Sony and they have the smallest ecosystem.

 

[peter42O]

HIGHLY doubt MS lower the Series prices this fall. The inflation factors affect them as well, and while they may be okay with hardware losses as-is, they are probably not okay with even more hardware losses through an unnecessary price cut. Besides, they do not have much in terms of exclusives this holiday season, or big AAA marketing deals, to drive console sales that much.

What they can probably do, though, is extend that free game promotion with Series S and expand it to Series X for a limited time. That would probably serve them a lot better than a price cut. Btw I still think they can hit the 33 million by end of FY2022, particularly if the bulk of those systems are going to NA, the one place without a price increase. They may take some small hit in certain foreign markets where the price is going up by upwards 20%, but IIRC that is not all of them and most will see much lower price increase.

All I know is, they might want to start talking a bit more of some of the other exclusives they have planned to launch for PS5 over the next two years, 1P and 3P. And for 1P, make sure most of that is not of the live-service, GaaS variety. Of course some of those games are in the works, we know that, but the main PS fans didn't come to support the brand because of those types of games 1P-wise.

I doubt that Microsoft lowers the price too but they did a sale for Xbox One during the November/December Holidays and then go back to MSRP in early January. So while not a permanent price cut, it would be more of a sale price because if you're looking at $500+ in other regions and in some cases, the games are $125+, that's a lot of money to be spending on gaming especially if it's someone with responsibilities and high expenses. With GOWR releasing in the second week of November, Microsoft coming out late October and saying that between November 1st and December 31st, you can get a Series X/S for $400/$200, they would sell every single console in my opinion especially in other regions because if you're talking a few hundred dollars more, a lot of people will simply be like, fuck that shit.

Yeah, they probably will hit 33m or at least get close to it. I agree in regards to showing single player games from their studios but compared to last year, im honestly expecting more of an emphasis on their live service games and PSVR 2 at this year's showcase.

 

[MScarpa]

Only people at launch paid the 499. I had 3 PS5 consoles at launch. Almost no one paid 499 for almost 2 years, so that price doesn’t even really excised. People paid more then 550 in general, so if you can search on the internet and want to pay 700 for bundles or second hand market the. 550 is kinda cheap for the PS5 right now. It’s not like there were any PS5 on the shelfs for 2 years for 499. It’s not gonna effect sales.

It would’ve been a completely different story if you could randomly walk into a store a saw a lot of PS5 consoles on the shelfs, but thats not the case.

So because there are scalpers, Sony should just charge more?

I paid 499$