Sony PlayStation recently revealed they plan to “monetize” existing users and services to counter further PS5 price increases. According to the company’s CEO, the new strategy is the result of increased memory costs due to the worldwide RAM shortage crisis.
Sony Wants to Avoid Another PS5 Price Increase
This latest update comes from Sony CFO Lin Tao during a recent PlayStation earnings call. During the meeting, Tao explained that the company’s plan to avoid rising memory costs was to focus on generating more revenue from already existing PlayStation users. The CFO also hinted at generating more money through its online services.
“Given the stage of our console cycle, our hardware sales strategy can be adjusted flexibly, and we intend to minimize the impact of the increased memory costs on this segment going forward by prioritizing monetization of the installed base to date, and striving to further expand our software and network services revenue.”
So the good news? We aren’t likely to get further PS5 price increases in the near future. However, the bad news is that Sony PlayStation owners might see higher prices in terms of digital goods and services. While Tao doesn’t specifically state PlayStation Plus, it’s currently the biggest online service the brand offers.
Does This Mean PlayStation Plus Is Getting More Expensive?
It should be pointed out that it could be possible Sony PlayStation offers new services instead of raising the prices of PS Plus subscriptions. The Sony CFO only said “expand software and network services revenue.” This is a pretty broad term and could mean multiple things including:
- New PlayStation Plus subscription tiers
- Higher PS Plus pricing
- More in-game monetization in PlayStation Studios titles
- Expanded digital storefront offerings
- Increased Game Prices
PlayStation Community Reacts
After the PlayStation earnings call was posted online, many PlayStation users had mixed reactions. On the one hand, some were glad that Sony was looking to avoid further PS5 price increases. However, others were worried that a PlayStation Plus price hike could be on the horizon.
“Bruh plus isn’t even that good to be increasing prices like this,” a user on Reddit wrote, for example. Another commenter agreed and threatened to cancel their subscription if prices go up. “I just decided to go with the cheapest option and even that felt like a rip off. If I didn’t need this to play games with my friends every couple of weeks I’d cancel it completely. If they raise the price of the base subscription I think I’ll just not renew again.”
One frustrated PlayStation fan simply vented, “Well to their surprise they will find that we don’t have any f***g money for increased prices there just like we don’t now for the hardware price surges.” Although, again, it should be pointed out that a PlayStation Plus price increase has not been confirmed. Still, Tao’s comments have certainly sparked fear in the PlayStation community.
The post PlayStation Plus Price Hike Could Be Coming as Sony Looks to Avoid PS5 Price Increase appeared first on VICE.
