PlayStation players claim that Sony is engaging in a targeted pricing strategy on PS5. According to a viral post on Reddit, the Japanese publisher is now charging different game prices for different PlayStation 5 users.PlayStation Players Accuse Sony of Targeted Pricing on PSN StoreScreenshot: PlayStation, Naughty DogClaims of Sony engaging in Targeted Game Pricing first blew up online after a November 5 post on the PlayStation subreddit went viral. According to the topic creator, Red Dead Redemption 2 was being sold at a cheaper price for his wife compared to his account. Before you ask, the topic creator claims both of their accounts are in the same region and currency.“I was excited to finally purchase Red Dead Redemption 2 until I realized the price was lower on my wife’s account. My wife doesn’t play much, and so buying it on her account may not be the best decision to keep everything easily accessible for me. Seeing this soured me on buying it quite a bit. And for reference: same region, same PlayStation, same currency, etc.”Screenshot: Reddit DarXIVWhen pressed for more details, the topic creator clarified that neither he nor his wife had a PS Plus subscription either. Assuming that the Redditor is telling the truth, it appears that the PSN Store is offering Red Dead Redemption 2: Ultimate Edition for $14.99 on his wife’s account compared to the $19.99 on his account. While this is only a 5% discount difference, the thread immediately drew backlash from PlayStation users who argued that targeted pricing should be “illegal.”PlayStation Community Reacts With BacklashScreenshot: PlayStationThe viral thread on Reddit immediately drew a wide range of reactions from PlayStation players. The main consensus was largely anger, as users felt it was unfair that Sony was allegedly selling games at different prices to different accounts. Another concern was what factors PlayStation is using to determine these pricing differences.“This is called price discrimination. They come up with the term targeted pricing so it sounds different, but it is in fact price discrimination,” a user wrote in reaction to the thread. Another PlayStation player replied, “Wow, this feels illegal. PS customer support better honor the higher discount or they deserve a lawsuit!” One frustrated comment simply vented, “This needs to be illegal.”Is Sony Really Using Targeted Game Pricing on PS5?Screenshot: PlayStationNow, to be clear, there isn’t any evidence beyond this Reddit thread that PlayStation is engaging in Targeted Game Pricing. Since the post went viral, Sony has not made any comments on it. And outside of this one thread, I haven’t seen any additional sources on PSN using this strategy, although several comments in that thread claim they discovered proof of dynamic pricing.Regardless, the thread kicked off an interesting discussion in the PlayStation community about the ethics of targeted pricing in the games industry. Specifically, many PlayStation 5 players questioned how Sony would even determine which accounts get different prices. Some argued that things like gender, age, and location could be factors. Although again, at this point, this is just pure speculation.The post PlayStation Accused of Charging Some PS5 Users Higher Prices Than Others appeared first on VICE.