Bad news if you live in Europe and you’re still without a PS5 Pro ahead of the release of GTA 6 – stock issues have sent prices skyrocketing, as it appears everyone has had the same idea of grabbing the console before the launch of Rockstar’s blockbuster this November.
As reported by Heise Online, asking prices for the PS5 Pro have increased significantly over the last few weeks, coinciding with the GTA 6 Extended Look. A price tracking chart on the site shows a major upward trend in prices in Germany, with things remaining steady at the €899.99 recommended retail price in early August before jumping up at the end of the month into the thousands around and beyond the big GTA 6 showcase.
The site currently lists asking prices for the console from sites like Notebooksbilliger going as high as €1,399.99. Many of the inflated listings come from third-party sellers on eBay, and there’s a seemingly good reason for that – a lack of stock elsewhere. The PS5 Pro is listed as unavailable on PlayStation Direct in Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Austria, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and the UK. In Germany specifically, reports from late last month show this has been the case for weeks.
Is this really GTA 6’s fault? Well, we can’t prove it for sure, but there’s certainly a correlation if nothing else. And it makes sense – Sony and Rockstar previously proclaimed that GTA 6 “plays best on PS5,” and, well, the PS5 Pro is the better PS5. It’d make sense that GTA fans would want to prepare for launch by buying the strongest available platform.
This demand-driven price surge is even more unfortunate than it could have been as it also comes after an official price hike from Sony earlier in the year. In Europe, the PS5 Pro jumped to €899.99 this April – a €100 increase from its €799.99 launch price. That’d be a significant enough surge as it is, but to see the consoles now go for hundreds more than that as folks become desperate to get their hands on one? It’s rough out here.