Why PS5 Games Are More Expensive In The UK | Screen Rant - Screen Rant

Now that the PlayStation 5 has released worldwide, players around the globe are getting to experience what Sony's new console has to offer. For gamers in the United Kingdom, as well as all across Europe, that also means paying extra for PS5 games. Pricing games by region obviously isn't something a lot of PlayStation users were looking forward to, but there's a few reasons why the newest games may cost more in the UK.

The UK has already had a rough week since the PlayStation 5 first launched there. Shipment delays were blamed on the size of the PS5 console, and resulted in people across the country having to wait longer than expected for their PS5s to arrive. Then, outside sellers on Amazon UK started scamming people trying to get a new console. All of this, of course, is added to the fact that gamers in the United Kingdom already had to wait an extra seven days for the PlayStation 5, which released on November 19th there but had already launched in the United States and several other countries on November 12th.

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Currently, PS5 games cost £69.99 in the UK and €79.99 in Europe, which translates to about $91 USD for gamers in the UK and $94 in other European countries. That seems like a pretty steep increase from the $69.99 gamers in the United States pay for their PlayStation 5 games - but there's a few reasons for this.

Reasons PlayStation 5 Games Cost More In Europe

Sony increased the price of PS5 games worldwide, due to the current-gen games costing more to make. From PS4 to PS5, the price of games in the UK increased by just over 20%. That's a major increase, which is why some fans aren't happy. However, it's most likely due to a couple of factors - the biggest of which is the fact that most European prices already include the VAT (value-added tax) while U.S. prices don't list sales tax, since those differ between states.

That still puts European games priced higher than the United States, but the margin is now much less. PS5 games for the U.S. went up by about 15% from the PS4 generation. When sales tax is attributed to that (with the U.S. national average being around 7%), that's a 22% increase in the United States, compared to the 23% increase in the UK. So, really, the discrepancy between PS5 games in the U.S. and in Europe isn't all that much.

Of course, import taxes and other outside factors contribute to price as well. Some countries just tax video games higher than others. Mostly, though, the increase is worldwide - since Sony has upped the price of PS5 games. So while it might seem like the UK and Europe got more of an increase, it's actually pretty comparable to the increase the U.S. has gotten for PlayStation 5 games as well.

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