PlayStation 5: Sales numbers collapse after price increase
The console market is experiencing a turnaround, in Great Britain, but probably also in other regions. After a price increase, PS5 sales collapse. At the same time, the competition is benefiting from new exclusive titles and is noticeably catching up in hardware sales.
Price shock slows PlayStation 5
In May 2026, the UK video games market experienced a significant shift in hardware sales. After Japanese manufacturer Sony raised prices for its PlayStation 5 worldwide at the beginning of April, sales in the UK fell by a whopping 50 percent the following month. The increase in prices affects all model variants and is due, among other things, to increased costs for RAM. Before the new pricing structure came into effect, trading saw a rush for the remaining cheaper inventory in April. The pull-forward effect further exacerbated the subsequent decline in May. Even the exclusive title Saros, released at the end of April, was unable to cushion the downward trend in sales figures. The game fell short of commercial expectations. The direct competing product benefits from the weakness of the market leader. As Christopher Dring of The Game Business writes (via Eurogamer), the PlayStation 5’s lead shrank to just 400 units sold over the Xbox Series The rise of the Xbox platform is primarily attributed to the racing game Forza Horizon 6. The open-world title was released in mid-May and provided new incentives to buy hardware. Another factor is pricing: the top model Xbox Series X is currently cheaper on the UK market than the standard model PlayStation 5.
Nintendo dominates with the Switch 2
Despite the duel between Sony and Microsoft, the Nintendo Switch 2 secured the top position in the British sales charts in May. The console is currently significantly cheaper to purchase than competitors’ devices. However, Nintendo is not spared from rising production costs. The company has also announced an upward price adjustment for September 1, 2026. This is also driving the current sales figures for the Switch 2, as consumers want to get ahead of the more expensive tariffs. Industry observers expect the overall market to stabilize in the fall as new titles appear and generate further hardware purchases.
