PSPrices has reported that Sony has been running A/B price tests in the PlayStation Store since November 2025. This has grown to affect 100+ games in over seventy regions. Many gamers are concerned about how this will affect their accounts, with some users speculating there will be inflated game prices based on purchase history. With the current cost of gaming components and subscriptions already on the rise, there is understandable outrage from many PlayStation users. Let’s highlight the key points identified by PSPrices.
Who are PSPrices?
PSPrices is a third-party service that compares prices across popular gaming consoles and Steam. This includes discounts and price history of over 50,000 games with regional and cross-platform comparisons. In March 20226, PSPrices reported that Sony is testing dynamic pricing across 100+ games in over seventy regions. Sony has a number of AAA titles under its belt, giving them prime opportunty to test pricing without involving other parties.
What Happened?
Sony has been running A/B price tests in the PlayStation Store since November 2025. For those unfamiliar with the term, A/B testing in this context is when users are placed into group A or group B and see different prices for the same game based on their group. This experiment began with fifty games across thirty regions, eventually growing to 190 games in over seventy regions. As of March 2026, Sony has introduced the pricing experiment to the US, the largest market for PlayStation. The new US expansion includes elastic pricing for the US only (known as the IPT_LTM program), causing some users to see significantly discounted prices in the PlayStation Store for 104 games in the US only. Japan is the only major market not included in these programs.
First-party hits included in these price tests are Spider-Man 2, God of War Ragnarök, and Gran Turismo 7, among other titles. Major publishers are also participating in the experiemnt, including Rockstar Games and Bethesda.
Heavy Discounts and Hidden Price Hikes
The original program launched was titled the IPT_OPR_TESTING program, which contained only seventeen games and fourty-two regions. This continues to run but is now accompanied by the IPT_PILOT programme (inclusion of 139 games total over sixty-eight regions) and the US expansion (IPT_PLM program). The IPT_PILOT program demonstrated discounts ranging from -10% to -12.6% in the German region with the US expansion showcasing significantly deeper discounts in the US region, between -17.1% and -27.8%.
| Game Title | Regular Retail Price | Experiemental Price Difference (DE) | Experimental Price Difference (US) |
| Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 | €79.99 | -12.5% | -20.1% |
| God of War Ragnarök | €79.99 | -12.5% | -17.1% |
| The Last of Us Part II Remastered | €49.99 | -10.0% | -17.8% |
| HELLDIVERS 2 | €39.99 | -10.6% | 27.8% |
| Gran Turismo 7 | €79.99 | -12.5% | -22.9% |
It was also found that the elastic pricing impacted PlayStation store sales. Noteably, Helldivers 2 was sold at a 25% discount for regular users whilst experimental participants received a discount of 56%. Is this incentivising new players, or capitalising on a known audience? PSPrices speculates that Sony is likely “testing users’ willingness to pay more”. This is most apparent in the US expansion of the program – the only program testing price increases as well as discounts. Most of the 104 games available games come from third-party publishers. Grand Theft Auto V, arguably one of the most iconic game series of our generation, was presented as one of two variant prices. The regular retail price of $26.99 was upped to $29.99 (+10.5%) in one variant of the US programme, whilst users in the other varient received the $26.99 retail price.
Controversy or ‘Business Strategy’
Now, Sony is no stranger to controversy. Just this year (2026), the BBC reported on a £2bn class-action lawsuit brought against Sony by a consumer campaigner in the UK. This lawsuit accuses Sony of “excessive and unfair” download charges creating a closed ecosystem where Sony has no retail competition for digital content. An estimated 12.2 million UK users are thought to be affected and in line for a £162 handout should the lawsuit succeed.
There has been no word yet from Sony at the time of this article, but news of their latest dynamic pricing experiments has spread fast and hot across the internet. PSPrices was first to report on the topic, with the experimental pricing being shown only to certain user segments as selected by Sony. Over the past four months, the experiment has grown and continues to expand. The intent behind the A/B price testing is unknown as of yet, but the team at Game Hype UK would love to hear your thoughts on it. Is it a valid business strategy, or an abuse of customer trust? Let us know in the comments!
For more details, you can find the source article on PSPrices. Be sure to check out our other posts and visit our newly launched Instagram for more news and reviews.
