Sony’s recent PlayStation 5 price hike might not be a one-off. Instead, it could be the start of a wider trend across the gaming industry. Speaking to Eurogamer, Ampere Analysis’ Piers Harding-Rolls suggests it “wouldn’t be a surprise” if Microsoft and Nintendo also raise console prices in the near future.
The reasoning is fairly straightforward: the same factors that forced Sony’s hand, like rising memory costs, supply shortages, and inflation, are affecting the entire industry, not just one company.
A big part of the problem comes down to components, especially memory. The ongoing global memory shortage, fueled in part by massive demand from AI data centers, is pushing up the cost of DRAM and storage. At the same time, broader economic pressures, including inflation and supply chain disruptions, are making it harder for companies to keep hardware prices stable without hurting their margins.
Sony has already responded by raising PS5 prices globally, with increases of up to $100 in some markets. While not related to gaming per se, Sony’s camera division also responded by halting sales of its CFexpress and SD cards.
Neither Microsoft nor Nintendo has confirmed any price hikes yet, but both are in a tricky spot. Microsoft has already increased Xbox prices in the past, and another hike could be on the horizon, as we noted in our previous coverage. With Project Helix expected to cost around $1,200, it wouldn’t be surprising if Microsoft also adjusts pricing for its current-gen consoles. Then again, the new management is looking to make Game Pass cheaper, so you never know.
Meanwhile, Nintendo is focused on keeping the Switch 2 competitive, especially in its early lifecycle. But analysts suggest that even Nintendo may eventually need to raise prices if current conditions persist. After all, keeping hardware prices low often means selling at a loss, and that’s not something any company can sustain for long
Imagine tapping a Zelda icon on your iPhone and jumping straight into Hyrule. A new open-source project called nxnative makes that possible by repackaging Switch games you’ve bought into apps for iPhone, iPad, and Mac, with no emulator in the middle.
Why does this run so well on Apple devices?
The Call of Duty franchise has held a special place in my heart ever since I played my first Black Ops game back in 2010. That game's campaign was something else, with twists and turns that culminated in a mind-blowing finale. We can all admit that compared to those older campaigns, the recent CODs have been lackluster at best, and a complete and utter disappointment at worst. The reboot of Modern Warfare did give me some hope, as the first two installments were actually quite good, but the third game left such a bad taste in my mouth that I wasn’t exactly expecting much from Modern Warfare 4.
After recently finishing the campaign, I can say that this installment is nothing like the recent releases and instead feels closer to the franchise’s roots. For the first time in a long while, the campaign comes across as well-crafted rather than rushed to hit a release date. It arrives three years after MW3, and you can see exactly where all that time went. It seems the studio finally made listening to player feedback a priority.
Epic Games has just announced the 2026 Epic AI MegaJam, which is looking to see how much game development can be squeezed into a very short window. This is running from November 12 through November 15.
Participants can work alone or in teams of up to five people, build in Unreal Engine or Unreal Editor for Fortnite, and bring along “as many AI agents as you want.” Epic explicitly encourages coding agents, AI-generated assets, audio tools, writing tools, and other AI systems. The official event page literally says "Vibe your way to $50k.”