The PlayStation Store could soon adopt a much more flexible pricing model. According to several analyzes carried out by specialized monitoring tools, Sony is currently conducting a test phase concerning dynamic prices for PS5 games.
More than a hundred games would be affected by these price adjustments. Some users have thus observed personalized reductions of up to 17.6% compared to the usual price displayed on the digital store.
Sony would test dynamic pricing on the PlayStation Store
Dynamic pricing involves changing the price of a product based on several parameters, including customer demand or purchasing behavior. In the case of the PlayStation Store, this system would allow the price of certain games to be adapted based on the player’s purchase history or activity. The information comes in particular from the tracking site PSprices, which identified price variations on more than 100 games present in the PS5 section of the store. Some players would thus have access to more advantageous prices than others for the same title.
Personalized discounts of up to 17.6%
Observed data shows that price differences can be as much as 17.6% off for some users. These variations concern both recent games and older titles from the PlayStation catalog. Several important productions developed by Sony would be included in these tests. Among them are Gran Turismo 7, God of War Ragnarök, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 and The Last of Us Part II. The reductions observed on these games are generally between 5% and 17.6% depending on the profile.
An A/B test conducted in many regions
Sony has been testing this system for around three months. This would be A/B testing, a method commonly used by companies to analyze user reactions to different prices. Initially, the experiment would have been launched in around 30 regions. The test would then have been extended to nearly 70 regions around the world. Areas affected would include Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Latin America and parts of Africa.
A strategy for analyzing player demand
The objective of these tests would be to study the elasticity of demand on the PlayStation store. By adapting prices according to player profiles, Sony could better understand at what price level certain games find their audience most easily.
This strategy is already used in many digital sectors, notably in online commerce or streaming services. It could allow Sony to optimize its revenues while sometimes offering more attractive prices to certain users. According to the latest data released by Sony, more than 92.2 million PS5 consoles have already been shipped worldwide.