Credit: Sony/PlayStation
The new generation is right around the corner.
Last night, Sony held a showcase to show off some of the big name games coming to the PlayStation 5. Some standouts included Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Resident Evil Village, Final Fantasy XVI, Hogwarts Legacy, and a brief (and I mean 15-second-long) teaser for a new God of War. As you’d expect from a next generation showcase, the visuals were stunning, if a bit overly-reliant on drab color palettes in my humble opinion. But that’s neither here nor there; at the tail-end of the presentation, Sony released some practical information about the PS5 that folks have been waiting for: the price and date.
The PlayStation 5 will be available in two different iterations: the vanilla version, and the Digital version. As far as anyone knows, the only distinction between the two is that the Digital version does not have a disc drive. As far as pricing goes, the vanilla console will cost $499.99 USD, while the Digital version will cost $399.99. Interestingly, the vanilla version costs exactly the same as the Xbox Series X, while the Digital version costs $100 more than the Xbox Series S. This could to lead to some interesting competition over the more budget-conscious facets of the gaming public.
PS5 Global launch schedule: pic.twitter.com/zgwfUX6iVl
— PlayStation (@PlayStation) September 16, 2020
Rumors have been circulating that production lines for the PS5 are running short on parts, and as a result, the initial production run of the console would be slashed. This has led to a minor outbreak of panic pre-orders. To assuage these rumors, PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan said in an interview with The Washington Post that not only is the production run not going to be slashed, it’s actually going to be exponentially higher than the initial run of the PS4. To give you some context, the PS4 sold approximately 2.1 million units in its first two week, and still had consoles to spare, so it’s gonna be more than that.
Both versions of the PlayStation 5 will be available in time for the holidays on November 12, 2020 in the US, Canada, Japan, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, and South Korea, and on November 19 everywhere else.
