Danica Davidson
May 14, 2025 
Both Nintendo and Microsoft have raised prices on some of their gaming products in response to President Trump’s tariff war, and it appears Sony will likely be joining them. Lin Tao, the Sony CFO, acknowledged in an earnings call that the company’s hardware, gaming and semiconductor productions are all going to be hit by the tariffs. She brought up the possibility of prices being raised.
Sony’s President Hiroki Totoki suggested another possible way to respond to the tariffs: manufacturing the PlayStation 5 in America. As things are now, the PlayStation 5 is mainly manufactured in China, and there has been a lot of back-and-forth between America and China on these tariffs.
However, moving manufacturing to the U.S. would not be an easy fix. Even if it were to happen, it would take years to implement, which means the tariffs would still be affecting Sony in the meantime.
After the tariffs were first revealed, Sony increased the price of the PlayStation 5 by 25% throughout Europe and in Australia and New Zealand. New York University Stern School of Business Professor Joost van Dreunen said in a statement to Forbes Magazine that if Sony has “raised prices everywhere except the U.S., it’s safe to say that’s where we’re headed next.”
van Dreunen continued, “In the bigger picture, this is a warning shot for consumers: physical goods, especially high-end hardware, are going to get more expensive.”
Nintendo has raised prices on gaming accessories. It hasn’t changed the initial price it gave for the Switch 2 — $449.99 — and van Dreunen theorized Nintendo chose to come out with a higher-than-anticipated price as a protection against tariffs it knew were coming. It was just that no one knew what those tariff numbers would be.
For another example of gaming prices changing in the current financial environment, Microsoft’s Xbox Series X 2TB Galaxy Special Edition has gone from $599.99 to $729.99.
Source: Forbes
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Danica Davidson is the author of the bestselling Manga Art for Beginners with artist Melanie Westin, plus its sequel, Manga Art for Everyone, and the first-of-its-kind manga chalk book Chalk Art Manga, both illustrated by professional Japanese mangaka Rena Saiya. Check out her other comics and books at www.danicadavidson.com.
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