Jim Ryan, president and CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment, has been put on blast on Twitter by fans reacting to the news that the PlayStation 5 will be receiving a price hike in numerous territories outside of the US. Earlier today, PlayStation announced that the price for the PS5 would need to increase “due to global economic environment, including high inflation rates.” Both the Digital Edition and the Blu-ray disc versions of the PS5 will cost more in Europe, Japan (effective September 15), China, Australia, Mexico, and Canada. While some are less surprised that this price increase is happening as inflation is hitting numerous parts of the world hard, many are livid at the situation and specifically at Jim Ryan.
Fans widely criticize Jim Ryan for PS5 price hike
Taking a snapshot of the top tweets mentioning Jim Ryan on Twitter, it doesn’t paint a good picture for the PlayStation CEO. Here’s just a short sample of the vitriol coming from gamers:
Jim Ryan when he heard y’all in those Twitter Spaces saying “I would pay $800 for MY premium console. I’m sorry I’m not BROKE!” pic.twitter.com/kHLbsu0eGP
— NeoGameSpark (@NeoGameSpark) August 25, 2022
https://twitter.com/ClunkSpider/status/1562788821535948802?s=20&t=R5A4uIgxmHdl_gPeU5shJA
Phil Spencer:
His work is making Xbox betterJim Ryan:
His work is making Xbox look better— XCENSION (@Xcension) August 25, 2022
Hints of the PS5 price hike were given from what was not said earlier this month. As reported by our sister site PlayStationLifestyle on August 1, Sony dodged a question on an earnings call about a potential PS5 price increase. Investors were concerned about the semiconductor shortage, general inflation, and higher production costs, noting that the company had recently increased several products in Japan that included headphones, cameras, and Blu-ray players. Xbox consoles, particularly due to strained supply lines for the PS5 and the low entry point for the $299 Xbox Series S (which you can easily find a discount for), had eclipsed PS5 sales figures in several regions.
Sony has also received widespread criticism for controversially avoiding the US market for the price increase, though this doesn’t mean that the US won’t ever see it happen to them. For now, those outside of the US looking for the PS5 will want to search for the Horizon Forbidden West PS5 bundle before that also gets a surprise price hike.
In other news, a leaked Dead Island 2 trailer from 2012 features Megyn Kelly and a narrator that sounds like Jack Black, and Xbox Free Play Days includes Destiny 2 story campaigns starting today.
