Rumour: The Next PlayStation May Cost More than $1,000

It shouldn't be a surprise that consoles and the hardware that power them are getting more expensive. Just last week, Xbox raised the prices of all their console SKUs and has been citing hardware components as a critical watch point as costs skyrocket. Also last week, Valve opened pre-orders to the highly-anticipated Steam Machine, with a shocking revelation that the price of just the lowest-priced model had hit $1,049 US dollars.

Via gaming industry discussion forum ResetEra, a renowned hardware leaker from the Sony camp who goes by the handle "Kepler_L2" has claimed that the Bill of Materials to produce a PlayStation 6 is now allegedly sitting at approximately $960 USD. A Bill of Materials also doesn't include all the overheads to actually make the console, which includes things like labour costs, production facilities, utilities, logistics and warehousing, and all the R&D that Sony has almost certainly pumped into the next generation of console.

Kepler has previously given statements about the PS6's expected memory configuration, graphics architecture, and corroborated other rumours surrounding a supposed PlayStation handheld.

Typically, game manufacturers tend to sell their consoles at or below cost, with the hope they'll get their bag on the back end of game sales and licenses. In fact, Microsoft (perhaps surprisingly) blatantly said the quiet part out loud in last week's Xbox Wire post where they announced the console's price would be increasing.

Sony, however, might be singing from a different hymn book. The Video Games Chronicle has recently reported that Sony said it "[does] not intend to sell hardware at significant losses" in a recent company Q&A session. In the same session, it said continuing to absorb cost increases was not "realistic", citing its recent increases in PlayStation pricing. The company said it has not seen a decreased demand of their hardware despite the increases.

If you've looked at PS5 prices locally, we've already hit the $1,000 milestone some time ago. The PS5 Pro RRPs locally for almost $1,400 Aussie dollars (that's $900 USD), so who knows what the next big console might cost down under. Microsoft is supposedly looking to subsidise its next console, codenamed Helix, but the jury's out how Sony will position its next console. Kepler's rumour-mill puts the PS6 as coming out sometime in the holiday season next year. So, only more time between now and then for prices to keep climbing, if you believe what the industry seems to be saying.