If you’re still on the fence about upgrading to a PS5, Sony’s hitting you with the classic FOMO tactic – buy now or pay more later. Sony’s latest financial report reveals the console has reached a staggering 77.8 million units sold worldwide, proving that even global pandemics and chip shortages can’t keep gamers from their fix.
The PS5 is practically neck-and-neck with where the PS4 was at this same point in its lifecycle, falling short by just 1.2 million units. That’s remarkably close considering the PS5 launched during a time when finding electronics was harder than scoring front-row Taylor Swift tickets. And with tariffs set to drive up prices across multiple industries, consoles may just be one of many everyday luxuries about to hit your wallet harder.
Your wait-and-see approach to buying a PS5 might soon cost you actual cash. Sony has already jacked up prices by approximately 10% in the UK, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand, blaming everyone’s favorite economic villains: inflation and exchange rates. While American and Canadian wallets have been spared so far, Sony’s CFO Lin Tao dropped some not-so-subtle hints that US tariffs could force price increases stateside, too.
“It’s not easy to do business for a console manufacturer these days: there are tariffs, inflation, higher production costs, slower pace of first-party releases, or general political uncertainty about the future to consider,” explains Dr. Serkan Toto, CEO of Kantan Games. His analysis suggests Sony’s potential price hike isn’t just corporate greed – it’s economic survival in an increasingly hostile manufacturing environment.
The fourth quarter showed 2.8 million PS5 consoles flying off shelves, contributing to a respectable yearly total of 18.5 million units. That’s down from last year’s 20.8 million, but Sony’s not exactly crying into their sake over hardware sales. Their digital business is booming like never before, with a mind-boggling 80% of all game sales now happening digitally, up from 70% just a year ago.
Software is Sony’s real golden goose. Q4 sales jumped to 76.1 million units, powered by exclusive hits that make Xbox owners question their life choices. Astro Bot charmed the robot-loving masses, while Stellar Blade, Rise of the Ronin, and Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth kept players glued to their DualSense controllers through spring.
Caught in the middle of deciding whether to pull the trigger on a PS5 purchase? The console’s future price tag is looking about as stable as Baldur’s Gate 3 on its initial console launch day. With Sony openly considering moving manufacturing to the US to dodge tariffs, they’re weighing options that won’t hurt their bottom line, which almost certainly means passing costs to you if those tariffs stick around.
PlayStation Network continues to be Sony’s digital empire, boasting 124 million monthly active users as of March 2025. That’s the population of Japan logging in each month to play games, watch content, or impulse-buy discounted titles they’ll probably never install.
If saving a few bucks matters to your gaming budget, snagging a PS5 before potential price hikes might be your best move. With system-sellers like Death Stranding 2: On the Beach and Ghost of Yotei dropping later this year, waiting could mean paying a premium, just as the console’s library gets even more compelling.
The gaming landscape has shifted since the days when physical media reigned supreme. At 80% digital sales, we’re watching the slow extinction of disc-based games in real time – they’re becoming the vinyl records of gaming, reserved for collectors and people with spotty internet connections.
The PS5 now stands as the 13th best-selling console of all time, with a considerable climb ahead to reach the PS4’s lifetime total of 117.2 million units. Sony’s expecting sales to slow further, forecasting just 15 million units for the current fiscal year. The delay of Grand Theft Auto VI to 2026 certainly isn’t helping console demand, as nothing moves gaming hardware quite like Rockstar’s digital crime simulators.
Despite hardware sales cooling off, Sony’s gaming division is hitting record revenues through digital sales and live-service content. Your physical game collection may be gathering dust, but Sony’s figured out that selling you bits and bytes is far more profitable than shipping plastic boxes to retail stores.
