Sony is copying Xbox with weird £300 PS5 console trade-in deal

| Games News Writer Published November 3, 2026 11:00am Updated November 3, 2026 11:00am A stunted generation (Sony Interactive Entertainment) In a bleak sign of the times, PlayStation is mimicking Xbox by encouraging dormant players to trade-in their PS5 consoles. The memory crisis and soaring prices have made this a very peculiar console generation, and this is reflected in Sony and Microsoft’s increasingly odd business strategies. Last month, Xbox ran a promotion encouraging players to trade-in their Xbox Series X/S consoles, if they’re no longer using them. They never explained why but it was assumed to be an attempt to boost active players and Xbox Game Pass subscriptions, even if that seems a very unreliable way to achieve that goal. Fast forward a couple of weeks, and Sony is now doing the same thing for dormant PlayStation 5 players, across the US and the UK. As highlighted on ResetEra, Sony is sending out notifications on the PlayStation app entitled ‘Trade in your PS5 console for up to $400’. In the UK, the same marketing push is offering up to £300. This promotion is in collaboration with online marketplace Back Market (Xbox’s was through Best Buy in the US). Even if there is some logic behind it, in terms of putting consoles in the hands of more invested players, at a time when there are stock shortages, it’s still bizarre to see from an optics point of view. Want GTA 6 news? Sign up to the GameCentral newsletter for the latest GTA 6 news, reviews of new games you should play and exclusive analysis of the biggest stories of the week. Crucially, the deal itself is pretty rubbish too. The promise of up to £300 varies on the condition of the console, but the amount is based on a ‘PS5 standard console with two or more controllers’, when brand new consoles only come with one DualSense controller. Sony now wants you the sell your PS5 for £300, amid the shortage of parts… Talk about a slap in the face. So they can probably sell them back out for a £1000. pic.twitter.com/ovZZTNhHnT— CrossSlashGame (@CrossSlashGame1) November 2, 2026 As a reminder, a brand new PlayStation console with two controllers will set you back £610 through PlayStation Direct, so you’re not even getting half your money back. Back Market is also an online retailer, so while you can get a quote by answering a few questions, you have to rely on postal delivery systems to get your cash. In other words, you might be better off, and safer, taking your system to a physical second-hand reseller. Or just putting it on eBay. Weirdly, unlike the Xbox advert, this PlayStation promotion isn’t explicitly targeted at dormant players. ‘If you’re ready to sell your console, you could soon receive a cash payment into your nominated bank account,’ the promotion reads. ‘Find out how much you could get today.’ Sony is expecting a rush of PlayStation 5 sales later this month for the launch of GTA 6 on November 19, 2026. In the US, sales for Sony’s latest console are still outpacing the PlayStation 4 six years later. Do you have a spare console? (Sony Interactive Entertainment) Email gamecentral@metro.co.uk, leave a comment below, follow us on Twitter. To submit Inbox letters and Reader’s Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use our Submit Stuff page here. For more stories like this, check our Gaming page. Arrow MORE: Games Inbox: What’s the first thing you’ll do in GTA 6? Arrow MORE: Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee Remastered review – Power Stone Kaiju Wars Arrow MORE: Star Wars Jedi 3 to be announced ‘soon’ as fans find final Easter egg GameCentral Get the latest GTA 6 news, reviews of new games you should play and exclusive analysis of the biggest stories of the week.