Sony has stated that it is set to hike the price of the PlayStation 5 in select markets around the world in response to the current global economic environment due to "high global inflation rates" and "adverse currency trends". And while it acknowledges these economic challenges are affecting everyday people, it states that it has no choice but to make "the difficult decision to increase the recommended retail price (RRP) of PlayStation 5".

The majority of those markets slated to see a rise in price also happen to be some of the smallest (alongside large ones such as China, Japan and the UK) with the US not at all impacted by the decision. Australia is smack bang in the middle of this where we already arguably pay overs for consoles.

In Australia we're set to see a $50-odd dollar increase in price for both the disc drive version of the console, as well as the digital edition:

• PS5 with Ultra HD Blu-ray disc drive – AUD $799.95
  
• PS5 Digital Edition – AUD $649.95

While this price increase is a necessity given the current global economic environment and its impact on SIE’s business, our top priority continues to be improving the PS5 supply situation so that as many players as possible can experience everything that PS5 offers and what’s still to come.

It's definitely a bitter pill here with our cost of living already one of the highest and most demanding in the world.

We'll have more on this from a local perspective as soon as its available, so stay tuned.

Damn, I haven't bought a current gen console in years. Last one was an xbox 360, how long have they been that expensive?!