More than ₹100,000 for a console
For the comparison, we chose 9th generation flagship consoles of two competing platforms: Sony Playstation 5 (Blu-ray disc drive) and Xbox Series X.
PlayStation fans in Ukraine have to cough up the most money with online stores selling the latest Sony console for as much as ₹102,400. On the other hand, the new Xbox is the most expensive in Argentina — ₹93,700.
The best price for both consoles can be found in Canada where the PlayStation 5 costs ₹35,600 and the Xbox Series X costs ₹33,900.
In India, as in many other countries, Xbox has the same price as PlayStation. For the latest consoles Indian gamers would have to pay ₹50,000. Lower prices can be found in Australia, where the PS5 and the Xbox Series X cost around ₹40,200.
A gaming console is not enough
Both Sony and Microsoft offer subscriptions which allow multiplayer mode — PlayStation Plus and Xbox Live Gold. Subscribers also get several games for free each month. Similar to video games console prices, the costs of subscriptions vary depending on the country.
In the comparison of yearly subscription prices, Turkey placed first with both Xbox Live Gold (₹2,800) and PlayStation Plus (₹1,700) being the cheapest.
At the far end of the ranking is Switzerland where a one year Xbox Live Gold subscription costs ₹8,200, and PS Plus: ₹5,700. As the companies declare, subscription prices reflect the local market economies.
In India, the cost of Xbox Live Gold and PS Plus subscriptions are ₹5,900 and ₹3,000 respectively. It is not as much as the Swiss pay, but still, it is a lot more than Turkish gamers.
Note: Microsoft stopped selling 12-month Xbox Live Gold subscriptions which is why in this comparison, we multiplied costs of 3-month subscriptions by 4.
Summary of costs
Which country is the best place for a gamer? We compared sets which consist of the costs of a video game console and the respective yearly subscription.
For video game fans, Canada is the perfect place. Low costs of gaming consoles and cheap yearly subscriptions provide affordable prices for both sets — ₹39,600 for PlayStation and ₹40,700 for Xbox. India found itself in the middle of the ranking, with ₹52,000 for a PlayStation set and ₹55,900 for an Xbox set.
One thing is sure: being a gamer costs an arm and a leg in Argentina, as PlayStation and Xbox sets cost ₹96,700 and ₹99,700 respectively. The only country where the PlayStation set is more expensive is Ukraine — ₹105,800.
Methodology
This report is based on the local prices of video game consoles: the PlayStation 5 Standard and the Xbox Series X with one gamepad and without any games. Subscription prices come from the official websites of PlayStation and Xbox. For the currency conversion, we used the average exchange rate as of November 2020.
The article is originally published by picodi.com