Sony to raise PlayStation 5 price by 20% in Japan

FILE PHOTO: An employee of the consumer electronics retailer chain Bic Camera works at the promotion display for the Sony PlayStation 5 game console and its gaming softwares in Tokyo, Japan, November 10, 2020. Picture taken November 10, 2020. REUTERS/Issei Kato/File Photo

TOKYO (Reuters) - Sony is raising the price of its PlayStation 5 (PS5) games console in Japan by about 20%, it said on Tuesday, citing a difficult external environment including global economic fluctations.

The console will cost 79,980 yen ($551) or 72,980 yen for a version without a disk drive from Sept. 2, the entertainment and technology conglomerate said in a blog post.

Sony has said it expects to sell 18 million PS5 consoles globally this financial year, down from 20.8 million in the same period a year earlier.

($1 = 145.0400 yen)

(Reporting by Sam Nussey; Editing by David Goodman)