Sony is now seeing the impact of its recent PlayStation price increases. PS5 sales in the UK dropped by 50% during May, allowing Xbox to close the gap significantly. According to data shared by analyst Christopher Dring, the PS5 was only around 400 units ahead of the combined sales of the Xbox Series X|S.
This decline comes after Sony raised the prices of PlayStation hardware due to increasing costs for key SSD and RAM components. These rising costs have largely been driven by growing demand from AI data centers, which has put additional pressure on the global memory market. As a result, the standard PS5 now carries a retail price of £569.99/$649.99.
After the price increase was announced, players still had around a week to buy PS5 consoles at the old prices. Many rushed to pick up a console before the higher prices took effect. Once that stock sold out and the higher prices took effect, PS5 sales dropped sharply in May.
At the same time, Microsoft saw the opposite trend. Xbox Series X|S hardware sales increased by 12% during the same period. Much of that increase came from the launch of Forza Horizon 6, which launced as a console exclusive and helped drive Xbox hardware sales. The game was a huge success and reportedly generated $140 million before launch.
However, despite Xbox reducing the gap with PlayStation, the Nintendo Switch 2 remained the best-selling console in the UK during the month. Speaking of Nintendo, the company has also announced a $50 price increase for the Switch 2, although it will not take effect until September 1. To help justify the higher price, Nintendo has promised a “robust” lineup of upcoming games to increase the console’s value. They also announced a special Switch 2 “Choose Your Game” bundle, where you can pick one exclusive game at no extra cost.
