Sony’s PS5 sale proves Xbox made a huge mistake

OPINION: A price cut?! In this economy! Yes, please. With rising prices becoming the norm of the last year or so, Sony has decided to break from the status quo and make the PS5 a hugely appealing proposition. It looks like a genius move following a price hike for Xbox Series X|S consoles just last month.

There have been rumours of it for some time, with some industry insiders like billbil_kun touting the prospect, but a PS5 price cut is now here – though, for only a limited time.

So, what’s the deal? In the UK, you’ll find £75 off the PlayStation 5 when buying direct from Sony, but some retailers, like Currys and Argos, have knocked a further £5 off too. That brings it down from £479.99 to £409.99 (or £399.99 from a selection of stores). Germany and Ireland are both seeing €75 knocked off prices too, and there’s is ₹7,500 off in India.

The caveats are that this offer is set to last until August 10 and that the US appears to be missing out though. If you’re considering it, we’ve rounded up the PS5 sale deals at UK retailers for your viewing pleasure.

Bringing the PS5 down to a cost of around £400 could be a great move by Sony, at a time when big releases like Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, Alan Wake 2 and Assassin’s Creed Mirage are all closing in. Only one of those games is a Sony exclusive so if the web-slinger isn’t essential for you, then you’ve got a choice to make – PS5 or Xbox. But, now, the choice is around £400 or around £480, to play these games at their best possible console quality.

It looks like Sony has played a blinder, and there are two aspects of this price cut that warrant this assessment. First, it’s announcing the PS5 price reduction around a month after Xbox revealed a jump in its prices. The move saw Xbox Game Pass rising from £8.99/$9.99 per month to £12.99/$10.99 and the Series X went up from £449.99 to £479.99. It isn’t a great look to have your fierce rival drop their prices so near to your price increase. It’s a big win for Sony here, but this first point is nowhere near the most cunning aspect of this move.

What makes this move to pounce on Xbox’s price hike so cutthroat is that Sony did the exact same thing in August of last year – raising the price of the PS5 from £449.99 to £479.99. Many may have forgotten about this little detail but, to those who didn’t, it seemed like Xbox was just realigning itself with the PS5 pricing with its decision last month. So much thought, resources and time goes into making big decisions like this at big companies but, from the outside, it’s almost as if Sony left a little trap for Microsoft and, then, pounced accordingly.

So, why now? Sony has introduced this PlayStation 5 not far ahead of its big exclusive release of the year, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, so that seems to be reason enough to attempt to further boost the console’s, already excellent (via Sony), sales figures. But, there might be another factor at play – the PS5 Slim.

Both Microsoft and outside sources (via Insider Gaming) seem to believe there is a slim version of the PS5 on the horizon. A new model would likely become the new priority for Sony when it comes to advertising and the like, so shifting more of its current PS5 stock now makes a ton of sense. A September release date and $399.99 price point are what’s expected of the PS5 Slim so, if you fancy a slimline Sony console, this may be the only reason not to grab a newly-reduced PS5 right now.