PS5 Players Face Rising Costs for Memory Upgrades

All the major consoles have seen price increases, but console gamers have largely avoided the brunt of rising tech component costs compared to their PC counterparts. However, if you’re a PlayStation 5 owner looking to boost your console’s storage, the ongoing component shortage driven by artificial intelligence is about to hit home.

SanDisk has just unveiled the Optimus GX PRO 850P NVMe, the officially licensed storage solution for the PS5, previously marketed under the WD_Black brand. Here’s how the pricing breaks down for this new SSD:

Interestingly, SanDisk’s website indicates that these models are being offered at a discount from their actual prices. While most gamers likely won’t be splurging on the premium 8 TB version, which can hold around 200 games, it’s still staggering to see that the full price for this drive is set at $3,699.99.

To put that in perspective, in 2025, that same SSD would have only cost $639.99, based on data from PCPartPicker. The entry-level SSD option is priced at nearly half the cost of a PS5, while the top-tier model exceeds the price of multiple consoles. Every storage option has experienced a price surge of over 100%.

And the situation is expected to worsen. The gaming community is still anticipating Valve’s upcoming Steam Machine price reveal.

You might be questioning whether upgrading your PS5 SSD is worth it. Personally, I found that upgrading to a 2 TB SSD significantly improved loading times for my PS5 games. Plus, it’s a relief not to have to delete games constantly to free up space. I managed to snag my PS5’s internal SSD for just $249.99 back in 2022. If you own a PS5 Digital Edition with only 825 GB of storage, your decision-making process is even trickier.

At this rate, I wouldn’t be surprised if a year from now, we look back at these prices with a sense of nostalgia for how affordable things used to be.