Author: David, Deep Tide TechFlow

On March 27, Sony announced a price increase for the entire PS5 lineup, effective April 2.

In the U.S. market, the PS5 disc version rose from $549 to $649, the digital version from $499 to $599, and the PS5 Pro from $749 directly to $899.

This is the second increase in a year. The last time was in August last year, with an increase of only $50 in the U.S., as Sony deliberately protected its largest market. This time it started at $100, with the PS5 Pro increasing by $150, and it’s a global increase, with no market exempted.

The pressure to raise prices has become so great that Sony is unwilling to bear it alone.

Gamers know that there is an iron rule in the gaming console industry: consoles will only get cheaper over time. The cost of components declines over time, and manufacturers rely on improved profits later to recoup initial R&D costs.

The PS5 is the first console in history to break this rule. Released in 2020, the digital version cost $399. Six years later, for the same machine, it's $599.

Sony's official explanation is six words: "Global economic pressure."

AI Tax

Sony did not elaborate much. But several analysis agencies pointed to the same factor: memory chips.

The PS5 contains memory and a custom SSD, both requiring DRAM and NAND flash memory chips. These two components are expected to see significant price increases starting in mid-2025, for reasons unrelated to the gaming industry: the construction of global AI data centers has taken away memory production capacity, squeezing the share available for consumer electronics.

Your gaming console and the memory used for AI come from the same production line. AI can afford to pay a higher price; you cannot.

Piers Harding-Rolls, research director at gaming research agency Ampere Analysis, told CNBC that Sony most likely had previously signed a price protection agreement with suppliers, locking in procurement costs for a certain period. But after the agreement expired, there was no sign of easing in memory prices, forcing Sony to pass the costs onto consumers.

According to a report by Fox Business, Sony acknowledged during a February earnings call that the company is facing pressure from rising memory costs, planning to offset hardware losses with revenue from software and network services.

Let me translate for Sony: hardware is no longer profitable, and they are even losing money; Sony plans to cover this by selling games and subscriptions.

This is the first blow. The extra money you paid isn't because the console has improved; it’s because AI has taken your memory away.

Missile Bombing, Aluminum Price Increase

The increase in memory prices is already painful enough. Then the missiles came.

On March 28, the day after Sony's price increase announcement, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard launched several missiles towards the UAE and Bahrain. They did not target military bases but aluminum plants.

Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) is the largest aluminum producer in the Middle East. According to its official website, for every 25 tons of aluminum produced globally, 1 ton comes from this factory. Alba (Aluminum Bahrain) has an annual production capacity of 1.62 million tons. Together, these two account for 6% of global aluminum production capacity.

According to EGA's official website, the company's products are sold in over 60 countries to more than 400 customers across various industries.

A few hours after the missiles landed, aluminum prices at the London Metal Exchange surged. According to a report by Securities Times, overseas aluminum spot premiums soared to the highest level in 19 years. Alba subsequently announced force majeure, halting deliveries to some customers.

Citi analysts predict that if supply continues to worsen, aluminum prices may rise from the current approximately $3,300 to $4,000 per ton.

The PS5's heat dissipation modules, structural components, and electromagnetic shielding all require aluminum alloy. With memory already taking a hit, aluminum delivered another blow.

Moreover, the bombing of these two aluminum plants was not a coincidence.

The Revolutionary Guard stated that these two factories "are related to the U.S. military and aerospace industry." Last May, the American aerospace giant RTX, which manufactures Patriot missiles and F-35 radar systems, had just signed a memorandum of understanding with Emirates Global Aluminium to develop a military radar core material gallium extraction line at its plant in Abu Dhabi.

According to RTX's official press release, the company's Senior Vice President for Operations and Supply Chain, Paolo Dal Cin, said at the signing ceremony that the agreement was to ensure the supply of critical minerals for the aerospace and defense industries.

Iran is targeting the supply chain of the U.S. military industrial complex.

But bombing a military base means the losses are borne by a country’s defense department. Bombing an aluminum plant means the bill is shared by the entire world, from airplanes to cars to phones to your PS5.

The Revolutionary Guard’s statement also noted: future retaliations will no longer be limited to equivalent military responses but aim to deliver "more lethal strikes" against the enemy's economic system.

According to Sina Finance, last month, the largest chemical company in Saudi Arabia, SABIC, already announced that its styrene and methanol production faced force majeure.

From aluminum to chemical raw materials, "force majeure" is spreading in the Middle East.

Paying for Changes in the World

Within the $200 increase of the PS5, there is actually a third blow, but that blow was already dealt last year.

In August 2025, Sony raised the price in the U.S. by $50 for the first time. The backdrop for that was the U.S. imposing tariffs on global trading partners, raising the import costs of electronics. The PS5 is designed in Japan, with components produced and assembled across multiple Asian countries; every link was scraped by tariffs.

Tariffs, AI seizing production capacity, missiles bombing aluminum plants.

Three accounts, three completely different sources. One from Washington, one from Silicon Valley, and one from the Middle East. The increase from $399 to $599 is simply that each increment is not because the gaming console itself has improved.

You just want to buy a gaming console. But on your price tag, you are also paying a share for America's trade policies, a share for the arms race of AI companies, and a share for the wars in the Middle East.

Moreover, the PS5 may be the most honest among them.

Sony issued an announcement clearly listing how much the prices have increased. But aluminum is not just used for gaming consoles; memory is not only installed in the PS5. Your phone, your laptop, and your electric bike all use the same aluminum and the same chips.

Traditionally, where does war funding come from? Governments tax, or print money. During World War II, the U.S. issued war bonds; during the Korean War, Truman raised taxes. You know you are paying, and you know where the money is going.

The next time these products quietly increase in price, there may be no announcement made.

In 2020, you spent $399 to buy a PS5; you paid for a gaming console. In 2026, when you spend $599 for the same PS5, the additional $200 is not paying for better performance.

Ultimately, we all have to pay for what has happened in this world over the past six years.