US sales of the PlayStation 5 nearly doubled in the week ending April 4, marking the console's best performance of 2026 so far. Consumers rushed to buy before Sony's announced price increases took effect. The surge came after Sony cited global economic pressures for raising prices by about $100 on its PS5 models.
Mat Piscatella, senior director at Circana, reported that US weekly unit and dollar sales of PlayStation 5 hardware reached 2026 highs during the week ending April 4, as price increases loomed. This represented almost a doubling of the previous week's sales. US spending on video game hardware for the week nearly doubled compared to the same week a year ago, according to Circana's retail tracking service and Piscatella's social media post on April 14. Sony announced the price hikes in late March, the second such increase in a couple of years, due to continued pressures in the global economic landscape. The base PlayStation 5, previously $500, now retails for $649.99 or $650, while the digital edition has risen from $400 to $600. The PlayStation 5 Pro is priced at $899.99. This pre-hike rush bucks the traditional trend of console prices dropping later in their lifecycle, as seen with the PS4, which fell from $400 to $200 at a similar stage.
