Playing your favourite PlayStation games is now more expensive.
PlayStation Plus — a paid subscription service for the Sony consoles of the same name that unlocks online gameplay, discounts on new purchases, a downloadable catalogue of PlayStation games, free trials on new titles — has increased in price. New subscribers now face (May 20) subscription costs of £7.99, up from the current £6.99 rate. Pay quarterly and you'll now spend £21.99 – a £2 rise from the existing £19.99 price point.
The good news? Existing PlayStation Plus members will not be affected by the price adjustment, provided they maintain their current subscription without cancelling or switching to another tier.
Unfortunately, if you're an existing subscriber in Turkey or India, you'll also be lumped into paying the new prices. The Japanese gaming giant stated on X, formerly Twitter, that the increase is due to "ongoing market conditions."
Starting May 20, PlayStation Plus prices for new customers will increase in select regions. Due to ongoing market conditions, prices will start at $10.99 USD / €9.99 EUR / £7.99 GBP for 1-month subscriptions and $27.99 USD / €27.99 EUR / £21.99 GBP for 3-month subscriptions.…
— PlayStation (@PlayStation) May 18, 2026
While no other reason has been made available, it could point to the ongoing RAM crisis tearing through the industry. The culprit? Artificial intelligence (AI).
Both types of memory chips are in massive demand as tech companies race to construct data centres — those enormous facilities packed with computer chips that power AI systems. The demand has affected various areas of the tech industry. Microsoft quietly hikes prices of Surface laptops in the UK. The founder of British start-up Nothing also confirms that smartphone prices will rise this year.
Gaming industry analyst Piers Harding-Rolls from Ampere Analysis told Eurogamer, "The supply chain shock of the elongated increase in memory and storage prices – both essential for console hardware – means that there is some inevitability to the PlayStation hardware price increases announced by Sony."
"With no sign of prices easing largely due to demand for AI infrastructure, Sony will have made the move to protect its slim hardware margins," Mr Harding-Rolls explained.
As a result, Sony announced that it's bumping up the cost of its flagship console by £90 in the UK, with the changes kicking in back in April. That means you'll now be paying £569.99 for the standard PS5 with a disc drive – nearly 19% more than its current price of £479.99.
It's the second time in less than a year that Sony has raised prices on its gaming hardware.
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On the other hand, Sony's competitor, Microsoft, did a U-turn in its price increase of Xbox Game Pass.
Microsoft has slashed the price of Game Pass Ultimate from £22.99 to £16.99 per month, saving you £6 every month going forward. PC Game Pass has also dropped to £10.99 monthly.
The US tech firm said in a statement: "Our players cover a wide breadth of geographies, preferences, and tastes, so while there isn’t a single model that’s best for everyone, this change responds to a lot of feedback we’ve gotten so far. We’ll continue to listen and learn."
The cut is a reversal of the increase seen last October. Microsoft overhauled its gaming subscription fees and rebranded tiers to better align with the alternative subscription from PlayStation — replacing its familiar Core and Standard tiers with new options, dubbed Essential and Premium. The existing Ultimate Plan kept its name.
The price of Game Pass Ultimate dropped from £22.99 to £16.99 per month, saving you £6 every month going forward. Premium and Essential plan prices are staying the same
| XBOX PRESS OFFICEThese price changes also mark the first big move from Asha Sharma, who took over as Xbox's Chief Executive in February.
It comes after an internal note regarding Game Pass's prices from Ms Sharma was leaked to The Verge. In the memo, she writes: "Game Pass is central to gaming value on Xbox. It’s also clear that the current model isn’t the final one.
"Short term, Game Pass has become too expensive for players, so we need a better value equation. Long term, we will evolve Game Pass into a more flexible system, which will take time to test and learn around."
The price came into effect immediately.