Sony is experimenting with dynamic pricing in various markets around the world.
As first spotted by PlayStation price tracker PS Prices, some games are being offered at different prices to different users on the PlayStation Store. For instance, some PS users are receiving discounts of up to 12.5 per cent on first-party games like Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, God of War Ragnarök, Astro Bot, Helldivers 2 and The Last of Us Part II Remastered. Meanwhile, some people have been getting even bigger discounts of up to 17.6 per cent on select third-party tiles, including Kingdom Come: Deliverance II, Red Dead Redemption 2, WWE 2K25, Mafia: The Old Country and Sid Meier’s Civilization VII.
On top of that, PSPrices reports that discounts on games like Helldivers 2 went as high as 56 per cent for some users during February PlayStation Store sales, versus the standard 25 per cent reduction for everyone else.
“This is a controlled A/B test by Sony to study the price elasticity of demand. Users are randomly placed in control or test groups — and see different prices for the same games,” writes PSPrices.
The site notes that this testing has been underway since November and has grown to include over 150 games in 68 regions, including markets in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Latin America and Africa. However, PSPrices notes that the U.S. and Japan aren’t included, which it speculates is “due to stricter regulation and higher market sensitivity.”
It’s currently unclear whether Canada is included in the tests. MobileSyrup has reached out to PlayStation Canada for comment and will update this story should a response be received.
It should be noted that dynamic pricing is already used in areas like groceries and real estate, with factors like purchase history, location, inventory, demand and income level often being considered. But of course, there are concerns regarding this practice. Canada’s Competition Bureau even solicited feedback on dynamic pricing from both consumers and stakeholders earlier this year, with many expressing concerns of issues like gouging, discrimination, and affordability.
This could be true even in situations like these PlayStation Store tests which have (so far) resulted in savings for some people. After all, someone who is given a game at a unique discount on a game will obviously happy, but on the flip side, those who don’t get such a deal would understandably be upset. And while PlayStation is currently experimenting with lowering prices, there’s no guarantee that the pendulum won’t swing in the other direction.
But above all else, games aren’t essential like groceries or housing, so it’s easy to see how changing up pricing too much could alienate consumers who are almost certainly already tightening the belt. Ultimately, though, these are just tests, so it remains to be seen whether PlayStation will move forward with dynamic pricing as an official business model.
Image credit: PlayStation
Via: Polygon
