by
A PS5 costs more today than it did at launch. Sony raised US prices twice in less than a year. Since April 2, 2026, the PS5 lists at $649.99, the PS5 Digital Edition at $599.99 and the PS5 Pro at $899.99.
That makes the timing of your purchase worth real money. Last Black Friday, Sony took $100 off every PS5 model. GTA 6 also arrives on November 19, 8 days before Black Friday, so a lot of people will feel pushed to buy early at full price.
My advice is simple. Wait for Black Friday on November 27 unless you need the console on GTA 6 launch day. Treat $100 off the list price as the line between a real PS5 Black Friday deal and a normal price. Each PS5 below gets a target price.
PS5 Prices Right Now
Sony sets these US prices, and every retailer starts from them. The April increase, which Sony announced on the PlayStation Blog, added $100 to the PS5 and the Digital Edition and $150 to the PS5 Pro.
| Model | Storage | Disc drive | US list price | Before April 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PS5 | 1TB | Included | $649.99 | $549.99 |
| PS5 Digital Edition | 825GB | Sold separately | $599.99 | $499.99 |
| PS5 Pro | 2TB | Sold separately | $899.99 | $749.99 |
All 3 consoles play the same PS5 games. You’re paying for a disc drive, storage and, with the Pro, extra graphics power on a 4K TV.
In India, the disc PS5 now lists at ₹69,990 on Sony’s own store, up from ₹54,990 before the 2026 increase.
Black Friday 2025 vs 2026
Last year’s Black Friday started from lower prices. Sony’s August 2025 increase had already set the PS5 at $549.99, and the Black Friday sale that began on November 21, 2025 took $100 off every model.
| Model | 2025 list price | Black Friday 2025 price | 2026 list price | 2026 price if Sony repeats the $100 cut |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PS5 Digital Edition | $499.99 | $399.99 (Fortnite bundle) | $599.99 | $499.99 |
| PS5 | $549.99 | $449.99 (Fortnite bundle) | $649.99 | $549.99 |
| PS5 Pro | $749.99 | $649.99 | $899.99 | $799.99 |
So even a full repeat of last year’s offer leaves every PS5 $100 more expensive than it was last Black Friday. Prices aren’t going back to 2025 levels this year.
The rest of last year’s sale is a fair guide to what usually gets discounted:
- Accessories: $100 off PlayStation VR2, $30 off the DualSense Edge and $20 off the DualSense controller, PlayStation Portal, Pulse Elite headset and Access controller
- PlayStation Plus: up to 33% off a 12-month membership for new members
- Games: up to 75% off PS5 and PS4 games on PlayStation Store
The Fortnite bundles only added in-game items and 1,000 V-Bucks. The real saving was the $100 cut on the console itself.
What’s Pushing PS5 Prices Up
The 2026 price increases didn’t come from one cause. Four changes are working on PS5 prices at the same time, and they don’t all point the same way.
Memory chips got expensive. Chipmakers now sell much of their memory output to AI server builders, so console makers pay more for what’s left. Sony raised PS5 prices in April and told investors it has secured the memory it needs for 2026, but expects memory to stay expensive into 2027. A Jefferies forecast has memory climbing 40% to 50% in the third quarter and 30% to 40% more in the fourth, as reported by Notebookcheck. The same shortage is why M.2 SSDs for PS5 storage cost far more than they did a year ago.
Sony doesn’t need to push consoles. Sony CEO Hiroki Totoki told The Wall Street Journal that the PS5 is in the second half of its life. In his words, “we do not need to aggressively sell the console today” (GameSpot’s report). Sony’s plan is to earn more from existing players through PlayStation Plus and games, and it has said it will manage costs by adjusting unit sales and promotions.
Tariffs stopped being the main reason. The emergency tariffs that helped lift console prices in 2025 lost at the Supreme Court on February 20, 2026. PS5 prices still went up in April, since memory had become the bigger cost.
US buyers are holding back. Circana’s Mat Piscatella reported that US PlayStation hardware sales so far in 2026 are the lowest since 2013. He also pointed to console prices at an all-time high and buyers growing more price sensitive. GTA 6 on November 19 could bring a wave of buyers back right before Black Friday.
What to Expect This Black Friday
Sony hasn’t announced its 2026 Black Friday offers yet. Last year it revealed them on November 18 and started the sale 3 days later, so the 2026 offers should show up in the week before Thanksgiving.
With all four pressures in play, here’s what I expect from Sony:
- Likely: an official PlayStation Black Friday sale with discounts on games, PlayStation Plus and accessories. Sony ran one in both 2024 and 2025, and these discounts fit its plan to earn more from existing players.
- Possible: a repeat of the $100 console cut. Weak US sales argue for it. Sony’s own comments about not needing to push consoles argue against it.
- Possible: a GTA 6 bundle at or near list price instead of a straight price cut.
- Unlikely: a PS5 at last year’s $399.99 or $449.99 bundle price.
If the $100 cut does come back, these are the prices to wait for:
| Model | US list price | Black Friday target |
|---|---|---|
| PS5 Digital Edition | $599.99 | $499.99 |
| PS5 | $649.99 | $549.99 |
| PS5 Pro | $899.99 | $799.99 |
A bundle at full list price is not a Black Friday deal. If the console costs the same and the box only adds in-game currency, you’re paying for the same PS5 you could buy in March.
Which PS5 to Buy
The choice comes down to how you buy games and what TV you play on. I’d rank them like this for most buyers:
PS5 Digital Edition
For most people, my pick is the PS5 Digital Edition, as long as you buy games digitally or play through PlayStation Plus.
- 825GB SSD, with an M.2 slot for adding more storage later
- No disc drive, but Sony’s add-on drive works with it if you change your mind
- Same games, same controller and same performance as the disc PS5
- Black Friday target: $499.99
The trade-off is storage. 825GB fills up fast once a few big games are installed, so plan for an M.2 SSD if you play large releases.
PS5
The standard PS5 makes sense if you buy physical games, trade them in or want a 4K Blu-ray player in the same box.
- 1TB SSD, more room than the Digital Edition
- Disc drive included, which plays PS5 and PS4 discs and 4K Blu-ray movies
- Black Friday target: $549.99
Physical games often drop in price a few months after launch, and you can resell them. If you buy more than a few games a year on disc, the $50 extra over the Digital Edition pays for itself.
PS5 Pro
The PS5 Pro is for players with a 4K TV who want sharper image quality and steadier frame rates in games that support Pro enhancements.
- 2TB SSD
- No disc drive in the box; the add-on drive is sold separately
- Stronger GPU with better ray tracing and Sony’s PSSR upscaling
- Black Friday target: $799.99
The Pro costs $300 more than the Digital Edition. On a 1080p TV, or if you mostly play older games, that money buys you very little.
Third-party sellers on Amazon often list the PS5 Pro far above Sony’s $899.99. It is wise to buy it from Sony or a major retailer, ideally at the Black Friday price.
GTA 6 and Black Friday
GTA 6 launches on November 19, 2026 on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. Take-Two has confirmed the date more than once this year.
Sony hasn’t announced a GTA 6 console bundle. If you buy a PS5 at full price on launch day, you’re paying about $100 more than a likely Black Friday price 8 days later.
- If launch day matters to you, buy the PS5 before November 19 and accept the full price.
- If you can wait a week, buy the console on Black Friday and the game with it.
- If Sony announces a GTA 6 bundle, compare it with the console’s Black Friday price plus the price of the game before you buy.
The game is also coming to Xbox. If you haven’t picked a console yet, my Xbox Black Friday deals guide covers that side.
PlayStation Accessories and PS Plus
Accessories get smaller cuts than consoles, usually $20 to $30 on controllers. These are the ones most worth adding to a new PS5:
- DualSense Wireless Controller for a second player in local co-op, or a spare while one charges
- DualSense Edge if you want back buttons and swappable stick modules for competitive games
- Disc Drive for PS5 Digital Edition if you buy a Digital Edition or PS5 Pro and want to play discs later
- WD_BLACK SN850X with heatsink, an M.2 SSD that fits the PS5 expansion slot when the built-in storage runs out
- PlayStation Portal, which streams games from your PS5 to a handheld screen over Wi-Fi
Expansion SSDs cost far more this year than in 2025 because of the memory chip shortage, so it is wise to wait for a Black Friday price before adding one. The PlayStation Portal now lists at $249.99, and PlayStation Plus costs the least as a 12-month membership bought during a sale.
FAQs on PS5 Black Friday
Will the PS5 be discounted on Black Friday 2026?
Sony hasn’t announced its 2026 offers yet. It ran official Black Friday sales in 2024 and 2025, and last year’s took $100 off every PS5 model. A sale on games, PlayStation Plus and accessories is likely; a repeat of the $100 console cut is possible but not certain, because Sony has said it doesn’t need to push console sales right now.
When does the PlayStation Black Friday sale start?
Last year Sony announced its offers on November 18 and started them on November 21. Black Friday 2026 is on November 27, so expect the sale to start in the week before.
Is the PS5 Pro worth buying on Black Friday?
Yes, if you play on a 4K TV and get it at Sony’s sale price. At $799.99 it is a fair buy for 4K players. At a third-party markup it isn’t.
Should I buy a PS5 now or wait for Black Friday?
Wait if you can. If Sony repeats last year’s offer, you save $100, and if it doesn’t, you lose nothing by waiting a few weeks. Buy now only if you want to play GTA 6 on its November 19 launch day.
What does a PS5 cost in India?
The disc PS5 lists at ₹69,990 on Sony’s India store. Sony sets its Black Friday offers by region, so check whether the India store is running it before you wait for a cut.
Final Remarks
My pick for most buyers is the PS5 Digital Edition at $499.99 or less on Black Friday. If Sony skips the console cut this year, buy it at list price when you need it and save on games and PlayStation Plus instead. Memory costs make a cheaper PS5 in 2027 unlikely. Buy the disc PS5 if you collect physical games, and buy the Pro only at a Sony sale price.
If you’re choosing between consoles for a family, my Nintendo Switch 2 Black Friday guide covers the bundle worth buying on that side.