Sale of PlayStation 5 rose in the U.S. in early April, according to data from a retail tracking service. However, the reason why PS5 sales in the US were trending upwards was for an unfortunate reason, as customers rushed to stores to buy a new console before Sony raised the prices of the PS5 series across the board.
Despite being on the market since November 2020, PS5 sales have maintained the same sales trajectory as its predecessor PS4. Despite the rising sales of the Nintendo Switch 2 system, the PS5 outsold the Switch 2 for two consecutive months to start 2026. While Sony's console still has a significant market share, the Switch 2 still outperforms the original Switch when comparing releases at similar time frames. Ergo, the PS5 is still gaining new users at a decent rate despite a strong surge from Nintendo.
New PS Plus Extra and Premium games for April 2026 officially revealed
Sony officially reveals the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 games coming to the PS Plus Extra and Premium April catalog next week.
The PS5 price hike prompted customers to buy one in advance
Unsurprisingly, US weekly units and $ sales of PlayStation 5 hardware hit 2026 highs in the week ending April 4, as price increases were on the way. US spending on video game hardware for the week nearly doubled compared to the same week a year ago. Source: Circana Retail Tracking Service — Mat Piscatella (@matpiscatella.bsky.social) 2026-04-14T12:21:16.462Z
Considering the ongoing DRAM shortage crisis has affected the gaming industry, customers interested in getting a PS5 did not hesitate to get one. According to Mat Piscatella of Circana, US weekly unit sales and profits for PS5 hardware in the US had reached 2026 highs during the week of March 29 to April 4. Piscatella noted that US spending on video game hardware compared to the same time in 2025 nearly doubled in 2026. But customer sales may have been tough. As Sony raised the price of the PS5 due to the rising costs of key components, customers who wanted to own a PS5 had until April 2nd to do so before Sony's price increases took effect.
As of this writing, the price of a new PS5 console now starts at $599 for the digital edition, compared to the previous price point of $499. The PS5 Pro saw the biggest price hike of the lot, as it now costs $899, up from $749, before any taxes and fees are applied. The PS5's price increase was largely a gradual rollout, as some social media users indicated that some notable retailers still had stock at the previous price points. In early April, PS5 bundles at Costco were still around $599, which included a PS5 slim with a disc drive and an extra DualSense controller as part of the deal.
It's not easy being a console gamer in 2026
The fact that users chose to buy a PS5 console to beat an impending price hike is an unfortunate testament to how expensive console gaming has become in 2026. With the RAM crisis showing no clear signs of slowing down anytime soon, it's possible that console prices could still rise in 2026 and beyond. It remains to be seen when customers will start to see some relief.
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New PS5 users looking for games to play will have plenty of options in the 2026 video game launch. With Saros coming on April 30th as a PS5 exclusive title, and big third-party hits like Grand Theft Auto 6 arriving later in the year, the PS5's game library will get a major boost in 2026.
