Sony’s PlayStation 5 Showcase was held earlier this afternoon and during the event Sony finally revealed the price and availability information for the console.
For months, Sony and Microsoft held off on revealing any details or cost information. Confirming only that the new consoles would be arriving in time for the holidays. Microsoft officially announced its pricing and release dates earlier this month.
Sony was then left to reveal its details at a more strategic time. That time was today during the PlayStation 5 Showcase. Consumers now not only know what the consoles will cost, but they know when they can buy them.
The PlayStation 5 price starts at $399, availability starts November 12
Sony will officially start taking pre-orders for the PlayStation 5 soon, and sales will start in November. Officially November 12.
As for the cost, the Digital Edition will retail for $399, which matches up exactly with a recent pricing rumor that popped up yesterday. The Disc Edition however will retail for $499. Matching the Xbox Series X.
This isn’t too surprising. Sony did mention earlier this year that pricing for the PlayStation 5 would be based on value. And that value didn’t necessarily mean low.
It does however put the cost at $50 above yesterday’s rumor. The lower $449 cost would have been a nice revelation for consumers looking to pick up Sony’s next-gen console. And it could have given Sony a nice edge over Microsoft for the start of sales.
Either way, the actual price is still much better than the rumored $599 that was floating around for months.
There are likely multiple places to pre-order
If you’re looking to put down the money right away, there’s going to be more than one place to do it.
Sony will be selling the console directly (both models, obviously), but you can probably also pre-order from numerous retail partners. Such as Best Buy, Amazon, GameStop and more.
Keeping that in mind, Sony did also note that you would need to register to pre-order. Which means you may not be able to actually place a pre-order unless you signed up to do so.
Sony also mentioned that pre-order invites would be sent out on a first-come-first-serve basis. The downside to that is that registrations started earlier this Summer. And there’s a chance that there are already so many registrations that registering to pre-order now would put you far down on the list.
Still, if you’re interested in pre-ordering and being an early adopter, you might consider registering anyway. As you may still get the chance before the official release date. And that will probably be better than trying to brave the physical big box stores.
Sony has yet to open pre-orders up to consumers, but that should be coming soon.
Update:
It looks like pre-orders start tomorrow and will be available at select retailers. According to Geoff Keighley.
Per Sony, #PlayStation5 pre-orders will be available starting TOMORROW at select retailers. pic.twitter.com/rwFAB5BNru
— Geoff Keighley (@geoffkeighley) September 16, 2020