The price of being a gamer

How much money would you have to pay for a PS5 and Xbox Series X — game consoles of the latest generation? How different are the prices in various countries? And where in the world is being a gamer the cheapest? Picodi.com analysts looked into the prices of the latest video game consoles and subscriptions of the two most popular platforms to answer these questions.

More than R20,000 for a console

For the comparison, we chose 9th generation flagship consoles of two competing platforms: Sony Playstation 5 (Blu-ray disc drive) and Xbox Series X.

PlayStation fans in Ukraine have to cough up the most money with online stores selling the latest Sony console for as much as R21,680. On the other hand, the new Xbox is the most expensive in Argentina — R19,820.

The best price for both consoles can be found in Canada where the PlayStation 5 costs R7,540 and the Xbox Series X costs R7,180.

In South Africa, as in many other countries, Xbox has the same price as PlayStation. For the latest Sony and Xbox consoles South African gamers would have to pay R12,000. Lower prices can be found in the UK, where the PS5 and the Xbox Series X cost around R9,300.

A gaming console is not enough

Both Sony and Microsoft offer subscriptions which allow multiplayer mode — PlayStation Plus and Xbox Live Gold. Subscribers also get several games for free each month. Similar to video games console prices, the costs of subscriptions vary depending on the country.

In the comparison of yearly subscription prices, Turkey placed first with both Xbox Live Gold (R590) and PlayStation Plus (R350) being the cheapest.

At the far end of the ranking is Switzerland where a one year Xbox Live Gold subscription costs R1,730, and PS Plus: R1,210. As the companies declare, subscription prices reflect the local market economies.

In South Africa, the cost of Xbox Live Gold and PS Plus subscriptions are R1,000 and R750 respectively. It is not as much as the Swiss pay, but still, it is a lot more than Turkish gamers.

Note: Microsoft stopped selling 12-month Xbox Live Gold subscriptions which is why in this comparison, we multiplied costs of 3-month subscriptions by 4.

Summary of costs

Which country is the best place for a gamer? We compared sets which consist of the costs of a video game console and the respective yearly subscription.

For video game fans, Canada is the perfect place. Low costs of gaming consoles and cheap yearly subscriptions provide affordable prices for both sets — R8,380 for PlayStation and R8,620 for Xbox. South Africa found itself in the middle of the ranking, with R12,750 for a PlayStation set and R13,000 for an Xbox set.

One thing is sure: being a gamer costs an arm and a leg in Argentina, as PlayStation and Xbox sets cost R20,450 and R21,090 respectively. The only country where the PlayStation set is more expensive is Ukraine — R22,400.

Whether you are a console or a PC gamer, it can be an expensive hobby. That is why you should always shop with Picodi. With cashback offered in stores such as Loot, Ubuy and Banggood you can save money on PC parts and other gaming accessories and spend it on video games to play on your new console or gaming PC.

Methodology

This report is based on the local prices of video game consoles: the PlayStation 5 Standard and the Xbox Series X with one gamepad and without any games. Subscription prices come from the official websites of PlayStation and Xbox. For the currency conversion, we used the average exchange rate as of November 2020.

Public Use

Feel free to use the data and infographics from the report for both commercial and non-commercial purposes as long as you indicate the author of the research (Picodi.com) with a link to this subpage. If you have any questions, please contact us: research@picodi.com.