The price of being a gamer in South Africa

Console gaming in South Africa is moderately expensive when compared to most western countries, but significantly cheaper than in certain South American nations.
This is according to analysis from Picodi.com, which compared the prices of the latest gaming consoles and their accompanying subscription services in 20 countries.
Out of the countries analysed, South Africa ranked as the 6th most-expensive in which to buy a PlayStation 5, and the 5th most-expensive place to purchase an Xbox Series X.
However, the R12,000 local price tag for both consoles was a far cry from the R21,680 Ukrainians have to put down for a PlayStation 5, or the hefty R19,820 for the Xbox Series X in Argentina.
The South American country also has the 2nd most-expensive price for the PlayStation 5 – at R19,820.
Canadians get the best deal when it comes to console prices for both consoles – R7,540 for the PlayStation 5 and R7,180 for the Xbox Series X.
The graphic and table below show a comparison of the prices for the PlayStation 5 and Series X in the 20 countries which were assessed.
2020 console prices across the world – Cheapest to most expensive | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
PlayStation 5 | Position | Xbox Series X | |||||
Canada | R7,540 | 1 | Canada | R7,180 | |||
Japan | R8,280 | 2 | Japan | R8,280 | |||
United States | R8,490 | 3 | South Korea | R8,390 | |||
Australia | R8,500 | 4 | Australia | R8,500 | |||
Switzerland | R8,610 | 5 | United States | R8,510 | |||
South Korea | R8,810 | 6 | Switzerland | R8,630 | |||
Italy | R9,260 | 7 | Russia | R9,270 | |||
France | R9,280 | 8 | France | R9,280 | |||
Germany | R9,280 | 9 | Germany | R9,280 | |||
United Kingdom | R9,300 | 10 | Italy | R9,280 | |||
Russia | R9,560 | 11 | United Kingdom | R9,300 | |||
Saudi Arabia | R9,640 | 12 | Saudi Arabia | R9,640 | |||
India | R10,580 | 13 | India | R10,580 | |||
Mexico | R10,680 | 14 | Mexico | R10,680 | |||
South Africa | R12,000 | 15 | Ukraine | R11,950 | |||
Brazil | R13,410 | 16 | South Africa | R12,000 | |||
Turkey | R16,220 | 17 | Brazil | R13,130 | |||
China | R18,980 | 18 | China | R16,130 | |||
Argentina | R19,820 | 19 | Turkey | R16,220 | |||
Ukraine | R21,680 | 20 | Argentina | R19,820 |
Gaming subscriptions
When it comes to the console gaming subscription services – PlayStation Plus and Xbox Live Gold – South African gamers get a bit of a mixed bag.
The R750 annual price of PlayStation Plus in South Africa is the 10th most expensive in the world, and more than double that of the cheapest country – Turkey.
Xbox Live Gold – which is only available in three-month packages – works out to R1,000 per year in South Africa.
Although it is more expensive than PlayStation Plus, it is the third cheapest annual price for Xbox Live out of the 20 countries, bested only by Brazil and Turkey.
In the latter country, the pricing for PlayStation Plus and Xbox Live Gold convert to around R350 and R590, respectively.
While consoles in Switzerland are cheaper than in South Africa, gamers here get the short end of the stick in terms of subscriptions prices.
An annual PlayStation Plus sub in the country of the Alps will set you back R1,210, while Xbox Live Gold would have you coughing up R1,730.
The graphic and table below show the differences in PlayStation Plus and Xbox Live Gold in the 20 countries included in the comparison.
Gaming subscription prices across the world – Cheapest to most expensive | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
PlayStation 5 | Position | Xbox Series X | |||||
Turkey | R350 | 1 | Turkey | R590 | |||
Brazil | R430 | 2 | Brazil | R980 | |||
China | R570 | 3 | South Africa | R1,000 | |||
Argentina | R630 | 4 | Russia | R1,150 | |||
India | R630 | 5 | India | R1,240 | |||
Mexico | R630 | 6 | Argentina | R1,270 | |||
South Korea | R630 | 7 | Mexico | R1,280 | |||
Russia | R670 | 8 | Japan | R1,290 | |||
Ukraine | R720 | Ukraine | R1,310 | ||||
South Africa | R750 | 10 | Australia | R1,360 | |||
Japan | R770 | 11 | China | R1,380 | |||
Saudi Arabia | R790 | 12 | Canada | R1,440 | |||
Canada | R840 | 13 | France | R1,480 | |||
Australia | R910 | 14 | Germany | R1,480 | |||
United States | R1,020 | 15 | Italy | R1,480 | |||
United Kingdom | R1,030 | 16 | United Kingdom | R1,490 | |||
France | R1,110 | 17 | Saudi Arabia | R1,490 | |||
Germany | R1,110 | 18 | South Korea | R1,620 | |||
Italy | R1,110 | 19 | United States | R1,700 | |||
Switzerland | R1,210 | 20 | Switzerland | R1,730 |
Combined pricing
Picodi combined the respective prices of a console in each of these countries with their localised multiplayer gaming subscriptions fees to create an overall picture of gaming costs in South Africa.
The total cost of a year of gaming on either of the new consoles worked out to be the cheapest in Canada at R8,380 for PlayStation gamers, and R8,620 for Xbox players.
Ukrainian would pay the most for gaming on the PlayStation 5 in a year – with a total cost of R22,400.
Gamers in Argentina paid the most for the Xbox Series X – R21,090 – and also have to cough up at least R20,450 per year to make
South Africa slotted in at around the middle of the pack, being more expensive than Western nations such as the UK, US, and Australia.
The map below shows how the costs of gaming compared between several prominent countries on each continent.