Source: PlayStation 5 to adjust plans in response Xbox Series X pricing

Update: According to new information, Sony is going to match the price of the Xbox Series X.

Yesterday was a big day in gaming, as Microsoft finally broke its silence with regards to the upcoming Xbox Series X launch, announcing a $499 recommended retail price, as well as a November 10 release date, the same day as the launch of the Xbox Series S.

While Sony has yet to respond and reveal the same crucial details about the two versions of the PlayStation 5, including one that doesn't have a disc-drive, we may have an early indication. A source who spoke anonymously to Gamereactor, and who has an overview of the situation, confirmed yesterday that when the Xbox Series X launch details were revealed, the PlayStation 5 was "considerably" more expensive.

Now, what that means is of course up for discussion, and no exact pricepoint was shared. For starters, it could be that the version without a disc-drive matches the Xbox Series X price, which could mean that the fully-featured console is either $50 or perhaps even $100 more expensive.

Of course, if there's anything we know about this entire process, from the initial reveal of both machines right up until today, it's that plans change, and Sony, who declined to comment when contacted, could course-correct and decide to take a bigger hit on each console sold by lowering the price to match that of the Xbox Series X.

That's all speculation, of course. What we do know, however, is that as of yesterday the PS5 was described to us as being "considerably" more expensive than its counterpart.

Make of that what you will.

Update: Such is the fast-moving nature of the business that we're already hearing reports from multiple sources that Sony has taken the decision to slash the price of the PS5 in response to the aggressive price point of the Xbox Series S and Xbox Series X.

Since writing up our original report, we've heard that Sony is considering pricing the discless PS5 at $399 and the premium edition of the PlayStation will match the Xbox Series X with a $499 price point.

Of course, take all of this with a pinch of salt until Sony confirms.

6 comments

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Destro_MC
2020-09-10 15:07

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I went from a 360 to a PS4. . The PS5 is 20% weaker and has 20% less storage then the XSX so I would expect it to be at least 20% cheaper. If the PS5 is the same price as the XSX then I am going back to xbox this gen

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TwinBlazeMK1
2020-09-10 20:38

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what about sonys blockbuster exclusives?
ps5 ssd is 128% more faster than xsx
you need to pay 300$ to get expandable seagate 1tb for xsx but for ps5 you can use 3rd party ssds also
xbox has 7 year old contoller and ps5s new dualsense controller has tons of features
you dont need any subscription to play online in ps5

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_mp4
2020-09-11 05:52

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Quote Destro_MC:

I went from a 360 to a PS4. . The PS5 is 20% weaker and has 20% less storage then the XSX so I would expect it to be at least 20% cheaper. If the PS5 is the same price as the XSX then I am going back to xbox this gen

I think PS5 was destined to be more expensive because of it's custom made SSD. I wouldn't be surprised if the plan was for the disc-less Playstation to be priced at $500, in order to compete with the Series X price, while the normal version was $50-100 more expensive.

It's reasonable to assume that seeing Xbox offer a next-gen experience for the price of a Nintendo Switch, via the Series S, caused panic surrounding their much higher prices.

Now it looks like the normal PS5 is going head-to-head with Series X, while the disc-less version will try to win people over with more power than the Series S.

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Kevin1968
2020-09-11 12:13

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Personally I would pay extra for the ps5. The exclusive games alone justify it for me. I can't see many playstation users jumping ship for the sake of A 100 dollors/euro. IMO

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Anomaly M
2020-09-11 15:23

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The PS5 will be $499 Digital and $599 Disc. Sony has not yet discussed with anyone to adjust the pricing, this information came from one source who is very active on Twitter as being an "ex Sony" employee. Like the slew of fake PS5 rumours, understand that this individual makes things up so if his "prediction" is right, he can be considered an "inside source" without actually having any insider information.
Sony cannot undercut Microsoft, much like people neglect the cost of both SRAM and nVME Generation 4 drives with the same flash configuration the PS5 utilizes. The bulk cost of this console is, in fact, the SSD. People continuously are saying that Microsoft "are taking a loss", yet acknowledge that it has a plethora of ways to obtain this money back. Sony, on the opposite end, does not have any ability to return investment on product sales outside of first-party or partnered titles. If they mark their console too low, it would take more than one generation to return on investment for a technology that doesn't drop in price (3d stacked nandflash in the configuration they have). Despite "claims" of these prices dropping, they've just stayed "the same" instead of increasing for the last few months. One could argue this is "good news"...or that the market has been so fractured due to COVID that sales and supply have just marginally equaled out for this time-frame.
Last point to consider is that Sony considers themselves the market leader. They allow disinformation to be spread about their console because it doesn't hurt them, it helps them. They allow rumors to swirl out of control, including a "15 teraFLOPS" iteration, a "Pro" model being released this Holiday, and "PS1, 2 and 3 backwards compatibility being added at launch". They did not debunk any of these theories, they just gave a vague answer that effectively meant "no", but to a click-bait journalist, could read "It's possible".
The reality is that Sony is not going to change their pricing. Their pricing will be $499 and $599. If Sony does anything, it would be remove the controllers from the box, and sell you the "base console" without anything, thus forcing the consumer to pay the extra $99+ in fees for what could have been simply included in the box, as per what is included in the box from Microsoft's offerings.
Outside of this, I can see Microsoft slashing their pricing to match whatever Sony has at launch since the pricing is an Estimated Retail Price, and not an MSRP. $499 could legitimately be a placeholder price until Sony moves, but there is a better chance that Microsoft already knows what Sony's console is going to release for, which is why they opted for a more expensive price point instead of a lower one. The PS5 is considerably weaker than the Series X and more powerful than the Series S. Microsoft is betting that the PS5 will either have the digital console match it's price, or go above it's pricing. If this wasn't the case, Microsoft (the most successful software & hardware company in the world and has been in this market lead for well over 25 years) wouldn't have made the staggering decision to go first. Sony is clearly playing with fire with this launch, and it could very well be another PS3 repeat. But sure, let's listen to a random person on Twitter who worked as a Security Analyst position for all of two months before being fired on advice. Fantastic idea.

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Dark_knightmare2
2020-09-12 02:03

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<quote author="Anomaly M">The PS5 will be $499 Digital and $599 Disc. Sony has not yet discussed with anyone to adjust the pricing, this information came from one source who is very active on Twitter as being an "ex Sony" employee. Like the slew of fake PS5 rumours, understand that this individual makes things up so if his "prediction" is right, he can be considered an "inside source" without actually having any insider information.
Sony cannot undercut Microsoft, much like people neglect the cost of both SRAM and nVME Generation 4 drives with the same flash configuration the PS5 utilizes. The bulk cost of this console is, in fact, the SSD. People continuously are saying that Microsoft "are taking a loss", yet acknowledge that it has a plethora of ways to obtain this money back. Sony, on the opposite end, does not have any ability to return investment on product sales outside of first-party or partnered titles. If they mark their console too low, it would take more than one generation to return on investment for a technology that doesn't drop in price (3d stacked nandflash in the configuration they have). Despite "claims" of these prices dropping, they've just stayed "the same" instead of increasing for the last few months. One could argue this is "good news"...or that the market has been so fractured due to COVID that sales and supply have just marginally equaled out for this time-frame.
Last point to consider is that Sony considers themselves the market leader. They allow disinformation to be spread about their console because it doesn't hurt them, it helps them. They allow rumors to swirl out of control, including a "15 teraFLOPS" iteration, a "Pro" model being released this Holiday, and "PS1, 2 and 3 backwards compatibility being added at launch". They did not debunk any of these theories, they just gave a vague answer that effectively meant "no", but to a click-bait journalist, could read "It's possible".
The reality is that Sony is not going to change their pricing. Their pricing will be $499 and $599. If Sony does anything, it would be remove the controllers from the box, and sell you the "base console" without anything, thus forcing the consumer to pay the extra $99+ in fees for what could have been simply included in the box, as per what is included in the box from Microsoft's offerings.
Outside of this, I can see Microsoft slashing their pricing to match whatever Sony has at launch since the pricing is an Estimated Retail Price, and not an MSRP. $499 could legitimately be a placeholder price until Sony moves, but there is a better chance that Microsoft already knows what Sony's console is going to release for, which is why they opted for a more expensive price point instead of a lower one. The PS5 is considerably weaker than the Series X. That is so much fud I don't even know where to begin. First off the ps5 with disc drive will never be 600 that's MS fanboy dreams and the Ps5 isn't significantly weaker than XSX lol not even close matter of fact the consoles are closer in power than they have ever been in a previous gen.

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