💰 High demand driven by GTA 6 has made PS5 Pro hard to find at retail price
📉 The shortage is primarily due to supply constraints rather than massive sales volume
📈 Component shortages and rising memory costs have led to smaller manufacturing batches
🚨 Retailers are reselling used consoles at high prices, but restocks are being tracked
The PS5 Pro has become increasingly hard to find at retail price. Sony’s more powerful PlayStation 5 is suddenly in high demand, mostly owing to the upcoming release of GTA 6, which is bound to provide the best experience possible until an inevitable PC release comes along.
However, you’d be forgiven for thinking that there’s been a massive uptick in sales of the PS5 Pro. That’s not necessarily the case, as it’s more down to a combination of increased demand, but also a lack of supply from Sony.
🚨 We’re tracking PS5 Pro stock updates. If you’d like to know when more stock arrives (PlayStation Direct has been the most reliable so far), follow Matt Swider on X and set your notifications on. You can also become a free or paid subscriber to The Shortcut to help support our work. 🚨
Let’s be real. A console that costs $899.99 – up from its already eye-watering launch price of $699.99 – isn’t suddenly flying off shelves many years later. Yes, GTA 6 was always going to help sell consoles, especially as Sony can proudly proclaim it “plays best on PS5” as part of its marketing deal – but PS5 Pro will be a fraction of PlayStation console sales.
Sony’s supply and manufacturing chains are constrained because of the ongoing component crisis, which is affecting availability and pricing. This means smaller batches of the console are being manufactured, and likely were before the cost of memory surged to unprecedented levels.
Sony simply hasn’t produced enough PS5 Pro consoles to meet the new spike in interest, which is why we’re seeing the likes of GameStop and other retailers selling used PlayStation 5 Pro consoles for extortionate amounts.
The Japanese electronics giant has reportedly told retailers that limited availability will persist into early 2027 and introduced a lottery system in Japan where buyers had to show 60 hours of PS4/PS5 gameplay to qualify.
The PS5 Pro stock shortage isn’t likely to end soon, so make sure you sign up for alerts if you want help to buy one.
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Adam Vjestica is The Shortcut’s Senior Editor. Formerly TechRadar’s Gaming Hardware Editor, Adam has also worked at Nintendo of Europe as a Content Marketing Editor, where he helped launch the Nintendo Switch. He also runs a retro gaming YouTube channel called Game on, boy! Follow him on X @ItsMrProducts.