The PlayStation 5 now has a price and release date.
Sony
Ready for the PlayStation 5? Starting tomorrow you’ll be able to preorder it “at select retailers” for $500 for the Blu-ray equipped version or $400 for the digital-only PS5. Both consoles will ship on Nov. 12 in the US.
The reveal finally gives a firm price and release date for Sony’s next PlayStation beyond the vague “holiday 2020” timeframe the company previously used when describing its forthcoming system.
After trailing Microsoft and its upcoming PS5-rival Xbox Series X and Series S in the news department, with Wednesday’s announcement Sony is finally setting the bar for what to expect when it comes to pricing its next generation of game consoles. The Series X and Series S will arrive on Nov. 10 for $500 and $300 respectively, or $35 per month and $25 per month on a payment plan. While Sony’s said the discless PS5 will have the same chips and performance of its Blu-ray equipped cousin, Microsoft’s Xbox Series S is designed as a less performant sibling of the Xbox Series X.
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Sony reveals PS5 price and release date
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The pricing caps a long series of announcements from Sony and Microsoft, during which the companies drip-fed information about their competing consoles throughout the year. They chose this approach in part to highlight the new technology in their respective devices, promising faster load times, more detailed environments and more immersive audio.
As the companies discussed their devices, they also discussed their different approaches to what they see as the future of gaming. Sony has gone a traditional route, discussing how its new games will be specially tuned for the new hardware, and encouraging gamers to buy the new device to get these new experiences. Microsoft, meanwhile, focused on compatibility, promising many of its games would play on its new Xbox devices, and older ones too.
The pricing news is the latest in a busy summer for Sony. At its recent virtual June event, the company showed off its new consoles white and blue design’s as well as providing a first look at a host of new games including Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Gran Turismo 7 and Horizon Forbidden West.
Sony also used the event to announce PlayStation Plus Collection, a library of hit PS4 games such as God of War and Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End. The games will be made available to subscribers to its $9.99 per month PlayStation Plus gaming service, offering more than 100 games. Now Sony clearly wants to take that on. Sony didn’t offer a direct competitor to Microsoft’s $14.99 per month Xbox Games Pass Ultimate subscription, which offers access to many of the games in its library on console and PC, as well as the ability to stream many of those titles too.
Specs for the PS5 include custom AMD CPUs and GPUs capable of outputting graphics at 8K resolution or at 4K and 120fps, as well 16GB of GDDR6 RAM and 825GB of high-performance solid-state storage that should enable significantly faster load times.
