GameStop hopes PS5 Pro buyers are desperate enough to pay $500 more than MSRP

As the release of Grand Theft Auto 6 approaches, players are scrambling to optimize their gameplay with the most advanced consoles on the market. Announced as PS5 Pro Enhanced, the game arrives as Sony faces a shortage of its popular console. With the AI ​​boom consuming the world’s silicon, Sony has struggled to maintain its production cycles, leading to a global console shortage expected to last until 2027.

Releasing in 2024, Sony is now pricing its advanced console $200 more than its original asking price, listing it at a whopping $899.99. However, you could end up paying a lot more than this already inflated price if you’re looking to pick up a new console before the end of the year. Today, retailers and resellers take the laws of supply and demand to heart. GameStop, for example, is currently offering a used PlayStation 5 Pro for a jaw-dropping $1,399.99, a half grand over its MSRP. Similar markups can be found in the resale market.

Sony has attempted to mitigate these increases wherever possible. In Japan, for example, the company instituted a lottery system tied to minimum playing time, presumably to curb a dealer market that is quickly spiraling out of control. However, as the shortage is not over, inflated prices are likely to persist.

The PS5 Pro is indicative of broader trends in the consumer technology market. Data centers are gobbling up high-bandwidth memory, a key to quickly delivering data to advanced processors. The cascading effect has led to a delay in the production of dynamic random access memory (DRAM) needed for consumer devices like the PS5 Pro, causing shortages. A JP Morgan report from August 2026 predicted that by the end of the year, the price of DRAM would have increased 400% globally since the PS5 Pro was released in 2024.

These trends are expected to persist. In September 2026, German gaming publication Playfront reported that internal memos between Sony and its distribution partners indicate that the PS5 Pro shortage would persist “until early 2027 at the earliest.” Some expect component constraints to persist well beyond next year, with some predicting the RAM crisis could persist into 2030.

GameStop is just one of many sellers trying to make the most of the PlayStation 5 Pro shortage. Best Buy, for example, is currently selling the console for over $1,500. Walmart, meanwhile, is selling an open box version of the console for $1,200. These prices are largely in line with those on the resale market, with prices on eBay regularly exceeding $1,100. For what it’s worth, GameStop owns about 10% of the online market and attempted an unsolicited takeover of the company for $56 billion earlier this year.

The exorbitant prices caused by Sony’s PlayStation 5 Pro crisis are quickly becoming the norm for most consumer technology products. According to a September 2026 report from The Economist, the consumer price index for “computer software and accessories” skyrocketed by 31%. In addition to the PS5 Pro’s $200 increase, the PlayStation 5s are up $150, or about 30%. Such trends could prove catastrophic for the industry. This month, sales of video game hardware hit their lowest level in 13 years.

Before you splurge on the PS5 Pro from GameStop, you might want to ask yourself if the upgrade is worth it. Capable of running 4K graphics at 60 frames per second, the PS5 Pro’s enhanced visuals look great on a high-end TV. Add in 2TB of memory, an upgraded GPU, and special features like ray tracing, and the PS5 Pro offers tangible advantages over its predecessor.

The biggest advancement is its PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution (PSSR) image upscaler, which uses AI to enhance image pixels. Although somewhat maligned upon its initial release, PlayStation made an enhanced edition, PSSR Enhanced, which is now the console’s default setting. However, like many of the Pro’s coolest features, PSSR only works for games labeled PS5 Pro Enhanced, like GTA VI. By now, however, you and a friend could probably count the number of games natively using the new PSSR in your hands. Whether these visual enhancements significantly change the gaming experience, however, remains debated.

Sony’s latest PS5 update could start to close the gap between the two consoles. In an October 2026 blog post, Sony said it would bring a similar AI upscaling feature to the PS5, known as Quick Spectral Super Resolution (QSSR). Although not described by Sony as the “benchmark” PSSR, QSSR will bring image and stability improvements to the PS5.

Overall, the PlayStation 5 Pro is a more powerful and visually compelling console than its predecessor. However, many reviewers have already questioned whether these improvements are worth the initial price of the PS5 Pro. Given that GameStop is selling the advanced console for nearly double the asking price in 2024 and $500 above MSRP, it’s safe to say that breaking the bank for the PS5 Pro probably isn’t worth it.