Sony just made PS5 more expensive — here’s the 5‑day loophole they can’t close

If you were planning to “wait for a deal” on a PS5, Sony just flipped the script: the deal is right now, and it disappears on April 2.

In a rare mid-generation move, Sony is hiking PS5 hardware prices across the US, UK, Europe and Japan next week, blaming “continued pressures in the global economic landscape.” That sounds like boilerplate, but the impact is very real: base consoles go up by around $100 / €100, the PS5 Pro jumps $150 to $899.99 in the US, and even the PlayStation Portal gets dragged along for the ride.

The one upside: there’s a narrow window where retailers are still sitting on stock at today’s MSRPs, sometimes with aggressive bundle discounts. For a few days, the market is basically letting you time-travel and dodge a stealth “next-gen tax.”

Key takeaways if you’re PS5 shopping this week

• April 2 is the hard cutoff: After that, PS5 Slim Disc and Digital jump by $100 / €100, and the PS5 Pro hits $899.99 in the US.
• Bundles are where the real savings are: IGN flags US deals like Fortnite and $399 PS5 Slim Digital bundles that effectively undercut future prices by up to ~$200 in value.
• Europe has quiet “undercut” deals: Numerama and GameStar point to Electro Dépôt, Argos and Amazon still selling below current MSRP – and well below where prices will land next week.
• This is one of the only times waiting costs you more: Historically, console hardware gets cheaper with age. PS5 is now the exception, not the rule.

Yes, Sony is really making PS5 more expensive this late in the gen

Console generations usually follow a simple arc: early adopter tax, then gradual price cuts, then fire-sale bundles as the next box shows up. Sony has already broken that pattern once this generation, bumping US PS5 prices in August 2025. April 2 is the second turn of the screw.

Here’s what’s happening to US pricing when the hike hits:

• PS5 Slim (Disc): from $549.99 → $649.99
• PS5 Slim (Digital): from $499.99 → $599.99
• PS5 Pro: from $749.99 → $899.99
• PlayStation Portal: to $249.99 (up from the ~$199.99 range)

In the UK, you’re looking at £569.99 for the standard PS5, £519.99 for Digital, and a brutal £789.99 for PS5 Pro. In mainland Europe, it’s €649.99 / €599.99 / €899.99 for Disc / Digital / Pro. Japan lands at ¥97,980 / ¥89,980 / ¥137,980.

GamesRadar+ points out the obvious context: RAM and component prices are ugly again, and Sony is trying to protect margins without cutting specs. GameStar hints at the “hardware crisis” behind the corporate euphemisms. Officially, Sony says it’s about sustaining “high-quality gaming experiences.” Unofficially, it’s about not eating the increased bill of parts.

Either way, you’re the one paying for it on April 2.

This five-day window is basically an anti-price-hike sale

All four sources line up on the same key point: retailers haven’t flipped to the new prices yet, and some are actually going lower than today’s MSRP to clear stock before everything gets repriced.

In the US, IGN highlights multiple promos still live at pre-hike pricing:

• Fortnite bundle deals that fold in cosmetics and currency, effectively softening the blow of the coming $100 jump.
• A $399 PS5 Slim Digital bundle at select retailers – that’s $200 under the console’s future standalone price, before you even factor in the packed-in game or extras.
• Standard PS5 Disc and Pro consoles still widely available at their old MSRPs, at least for now.

In the UK, IGN’s Argos coverage points to a PS5 Pro at £639.99 in the Spring Sale – already under its current sticker, and far under the incoming £789.99. Their argument is blunt: to build a PC that competes with a PS5 Pro today, you’re probably crossing the £1,500 mark once you factor in GPU and rising memory prices. Against that, even the “expensive” Pro is still cheap performance-per-dollar.

France has its own loophole. Numerama notes Electro Dépôt quietly undercutting Sony’s French MSRP before the hike:

• PS5 Slim Standard: 529.97 € (down from 549 € now, and far from the incoming 650 €)
• PS5 Slim Digital: 449.97 € (down from 499 €, and way below the future 600 €)

Germany and the wider EU aren’t left out either. GameStar reports Amazon still listing PS5 and PS5 Pro at the old prices, with a now-vanished coupon having made them even cheaper. Stock, especially of the Pro, is visibly shrinking as people rush to lock in the old numbers.

The pattern is the same across regions: old MSRP, plus local discount, versus a guaranteed €100 / $100+ jump next week. For once, you don’t need to guess whether a better deal is coming later. It isn’t.

Standard, Digital, or Pro: who should actually rush?

Sony’s pricing move raises the real question: at these numbers, what actually makes sense to buy?

If you’re console-less and were already leaning PS5, this is the clearest decision. Buying before April 2 is effectively a free $100 / €100 discount on Slim models, or $150 / €150 on Pro. Stack that with any local bundle discount and you’re looking at a real, permanent saving – not a seasonal sale that’ll come back around later.

Disc vs Digital becomes more painful after the hike. Today, Digital is $50 cheaper in the US; next week, both models jump by $100. In France, the Digital is about to go from 500 € to 600 €, while the Disc climbs to 650 €. With physical game deals and used discs still undercutting the PS Store, that €50–$50 gap looks small compared to the flexibility you lose. If you’re going Digital-only, you really want to be grabbing a sub-$400 / sub-450 € bundle now, not paying 599.99 $ / 599.99 € later.

For PS5 owners eyeing the Pro, this week is the difference between “painful but defensible” and “I could’ve bought a mid-range GPU for that.” IGN’s PC comparison is important: a Pro-class PC for £1,500+ makes the console’s £639.99–£749.99 window look sane. At £789.99 / $899.99, the value prop is still there in raw performance-per-dollar terms, but the psychological line has clearly been crossed.

The other thing holding some people back is PS6 paranoia. Here, the deals coverage is surprisingly optimistic. IGN’s Pro-focused piece argues a PS6 is unlikely within the next two to three years, pointing to high memory prices and how long it took this generation to really get going. The long tail of PS4 support is the precedent: you’re probably looking at three to five years of meaningful PS5 / PS5 Pro support even after a PS6 is announced.

Translation: if you buy a Pro this week and ride it for four years, you’re not getting burned by some surprise 2027 hardware reset. The real burn would be paying $150 / €150 more for the exact same box a few days from now.

The uncomfortable part: Sony can do this because it knows you’ll pay

None of this – not the RAM crisis, not the supply chain, not inflation – changes the core dynamic: console prices go up when platform holders are confident demand won’t collapse.

Sony is raising PS5 prices six years into the generation because PS5 is still the platform where most of the big third-party games want to live, because PSVR2 and Portal need an install base, and because there’s no clear “PS5 Pro killer” from the competition on shelves right now. An $899.99 Pro looks aggressive until you price out a GPU that can brute-force a similar ray-traced 4K experience.

The part they’re hoping you don’t think too hard about is precedent. This is now a generation where waiting didn’t save you money. It cost you. That’s a big mental shift for how console ecosystems work – and something Microsoft, Nintendo, and PC builders will be watching closely.

What to watch next

• April 2, 2026: The new prices officially kick in across US, UK, Europe and Japan. Any retailer still selling old stock below those numbers becomes instantly more valuable.
• Retail stock and bundle sell-outs: Watch Argos, Amazon, Electro Dépôt, and US big-box stores. A sudden “out of stock” on Pro models before April 2 will tell you how fast players are moving.
• How Sony sweetens the pill: Expect more “value” bundles and maybe PS Plus promotions later in the year to make the higher base prices feel less harsh.
• Competitor reactions: If Xbox or Nintendo hold or cut hardware prices while Sony locks in these hikes, the value conversation in holiday 2026 looks very different.

TL;DR

Sony is raising PS5 and PS5 Pro prices worldwide on April 2, with US hikes of $100 on Slim models and $150 on the Pro, plus increases for the PlayStation Portal. For a few days, though, retailers across the US and Europe are still selling consoles – often in discounted bundles – at today’s lower MSRPs. If you were already planning to buy into the PS5 ecosystem, this is the moment to do it; after April 2, you’re paying significantly more for the exact same hardware.