What actually goes on sale on the PlayStation Store

By Pranay. Figures read from the ps-store-db database on 13 September 2026.

Right now 1,683 of the 12,031 games I track in the United States store are discounted, which is 14%. That number moves around during a big sale, but the shape underneath it barely moves at all, and the shape is the actual story: a game's age decides almost everything about the discount it gets.

Typical cut is the middle discount among the games on sale in that group.

Read down the last 2 columns and the pattern is almost a straight line. A game from this year that goes on sale takes 30% off. By the time it is 10 years or older, the typical cut is 75%. The chance of being on sale at all climbs the same way, from 11% to 14%.

The single number I would highlight in a much bolder way is this one: of the 276 games currently sitting at 80% off or more, 3 were released this year or last. The really deep cuts are a back catalog business, full stop.

Why publishers do it this way

There are 2 different storylines that explain the table:

• A new game is still earning at full price, and every person who buys it at 30% off is a person who might have paid full price a week later. Discounting early is expensive, so publishers hold the line and use small cuts to nudge people who were already close.
• An older game has taken most of the money it is ever going to take at full price. At that point the discount is not costing a full price sale, it is buying a player who was never going to pay 60 dollars. A 90% cut on a 5 year old game is close to free money, and it quietly feeds the live service or the sequel.

That second point is the one I particularly feel gets underrated. A deep discount is not a distress signal. It is usually a very healthy, deliberate move on a game that has already done its job.

What this means if you are waiting for a price

The practical read is straightforward, and I would say it holds across every store I track:

• On a game from this year, waiting for a deep cut is generally a waste of time. The best you should realistically expect is somewhere near 30%, and only 11% of this year's games are on sale at any given moment.
• At 2 to 4 years old the maths changes completely. That is where the 60% cuts start showing up, and where I think most people get the best value.
• Past 5 years, patience stops paying. The game is already near its floor and waiting another year buys you very little.

The exceptions this week

These are the 2026 releases currently taking the biggest cuts in United States, and they are worth a look precisely because they are unusual:

A game from this year at a serious discount usually means 1 of 2 things: it did not sell the way the publisher hoped, or it is a smaller release that priced itself for volume from the start. Either way it is a much better deal than the same percentage on something from 2016, because you are getting a current game at a catalog price.

The bottom line, the way I read it: the PlayStation Store does not really run 1 sale. It runs 2. There is a shallow, cautious sale on everything recent, and a very aggressive clear out on everything old, and knowing which one you are looking at tells you whether to buy now or wait.

Every number here is computed live from the charts and prices this site records, so the article changes as the stores do.