PlayStation 5 Arrives November 12th, Starting at $399
Today is the day many gamers have been waiting for, we finally have the missing pieces to the console launches that are happening this fall. Sony has officially announced the PS5 pricing and detailed its launch strategy.
The PlayStation 5 will arrive on November 12th and the digital version will cost $399 and the version with an optical drive will cost $499. The launch countries on the 12th include US, Japan, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and South Korea and many other locations will get the PS5 on the 19th of November. If you are looking to pre-order the console, those open up tomorrow at select retailers.
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With the PS5 details known, you can begin to compare it to Microsoft’s Series S and X consoles. Those pieces of hardware will cost $299 and $499 when they go on sale in the first half of November with pre-orders opening on the 22nd of this month.
Both Microsoft and Sony are leveraging many new technologies for their hardware like ray tracing, faster storage drives, ZEN 2 CPUs and other features that will dramatically improve framerate and visual fidelity over the previous generation. While the new hardware looks great from both companies, each are taking a slightly different approach to next-gen consoles that are giving consumers several options for finding the device that fits their needs.
Conversation 30 comments
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brothernod
Premium MemberLog in to Reply<p>Sony must be taking a real hit at $399. Ballsy play. I'm glad they didn't come in to this generation as cocky as they have in the past when they won the previous one.</p>
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vernonlvincent
Premium MemberLog in to Reply<blockquote><em><a href="#575486">In reply to brothernod:</a></em></blockquote><p>Wonder if they lowered it after seeing the XBOX Series S pricing. Wouldn't be surprised.</p>
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cjhawkins3rd
Log in to Reply<p>Looks like the Sony pictures are mixed up.</p>
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iantrem
Premium MemberLog in to Reply<p>So many reasons that Microsoft should win this generation:</p><p><br></p><p>Backwards compatibility.</p><p>Xbox game pass ultimate with EA Play</p><p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Payment plans that actually work out cheaper than buying now.</span></p><p>Lower cost of entry (Sony must be taking a huge hit a $399).</p><p><br></p><p>BUT, will the exclusives Sony has along with a far-east market that will always back them over Microsoft win out? I'm in the UK and my son and all his mates are 90%+ Xbox, I don't know if that's true across all age ranges and across the whole of Europe though. I think it will be a lot closer than last time but I couldn't pick a winner at the moment. It will be interesting in the new year to see who lowers their prices first.</p>
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wp7mango
Log in to Reply<blockquote><em><a href="#575508">In reply to iantrem:</a></em></blockquote><p>And the Xbox Series X has better performance.</p>
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glenn8878
Log in to Reply<p>Sony's digital version at $399 is not equivalent to Xbox Series S at $299. Sony's 2 consoles are the same except for the optical drive. So the reverse way of looking at it is you're buying the $399 at a discount compared to the Xbox Series X at $499 if you don't need the optical drive.</p>
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the escalation
Log in to Reply<blockquote><em><a href="#575519">In reply to glenn8878:</a></em></blockquote><p>I think that's an important distinction and a very good point.</p>
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wp7mango
Log in to Reply<blockquote><em><a href="#575519">In reply to glenn8878:</a></em></blockquote><p>True, but on the other hand, the Xbox Series X is faster than the PS5. Faster GPU, faster RAM, and a bigger SSD. Which justifies the extra $100.</p><p><br></p><p>I'll be buying the Xbox Series X mainly because it's the most cost effective way to run Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 (once released for Xbox of course).</p>
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Chrisconnolly
Premium MemberLog in to Reply<blockquote><a href="#575519"><em>In reply to glenn8878:</em></a><em> Will be interesting to see how they market them. For many without a 4K TV, either the Series X or either Playstation version is total overkill especially since MOST games will never run 4K or full refresh rate all the time. For those kids running these things on monitors (non-4K) or families with a solid 1080P screen the S model is the cheapest and best way to get next gen performance in a non-4K world. Which…most gamers used to PC care less about, it's all about the frame rate and load times, which the S does exactly the same as any of the more expensive consoles.</em></blockquote><p><br></p>
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sammyg
Log in to Reply<blockquote><em><a href="#575540">In reply to Chrisconnolly:</a></em></blockquote><p>If you have the cash I would go with the highest end model you can afford, even on a 1080p screen. </p><p><br></p><p>Every generation of console hypes way past reality. Meaning the Xbox 360 and PS3 hyped HD as in 1080p and at the end of the day they were 720p boxes. Xbox One and PS4 were finally 1080p 30fps boxes, barely in most games. If you wanted higher FPS dynamic resolutions and lowering of detail. Sure some games could push the 1080p 60fps like Forza but racing games do need that much power.</p><p><br></p><p>The PS5 and XSX are solid 1080p 60fps consoles in probably all games. That said I bet they can't pull that off in every game. Red Dead 2? Not to mention newer games. 4K will for sure run with dynamic resolutions in most games. </p><p><br></p><p>4K is a joke on the PC side, only the PC gamers that spend crazy $$$$ and spend more time benchmarking than playing games chases that. 1440p is picking up steam on the PC side, I know lots of PC gamers that have recently moved up to 1440p, because you can get a 144hz 1440p IPS monitor (before the Kovid) for $300-$400 and coupled with a 2070 Super you can play lots of games at 60+ fps with high to ultra detail on the PC with that kind of setup.</p><p><br></p><p>Honestly I will probably grab a PS5 digital for PS exclusives and upgrade my 2070 Super to a 3080 in 6-9 months when the supply has normalized. My 8700K CPU and 32gigs of RAM will last at least 3-4 years more for my gaming and light computer needs. That combo will cover all of my gaming needs, since any game I can get on the Xbox will run on my PC.</p>
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Calibr21
Log in to Reply<blockquote><em><a href="#575519">In reply to glenn8878:</a></em></blockquote><p><br></p><p>PS5 Digital Edition exists so Sony can advertise a lower price. Sony doesn't actually want people buying it. They are taking too much of a loss at $399. There are reports that Sony is producing Standard to Digital in a 6:1 ratio, making it very hard to find a digital edition. $499 is the price 80% of people will be paying.</p><p><br></p><p><a href="https://twitter.com/Lbabinz/status/1306381458949337088" target="_blank">https://twitter.com/Lbabinz/status/1306381458949337088</a></p><p><br></p><p><a href="https://twitter.com/JeffGrubb/status/1306373855095611392" target="_blank">https://twitter.com/JeffGrubb/status/1306373855095611392</a></p>
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Vladimir Carli
Premium MemberLog in to Reply<blockquote><em><a href="#575629">In reply to Calibr21:</a></em></blockquote><p><br></p><p>I think the situation is a bit more complex than that. Both Sony and Microsoft make a large proportion of revenues from the sale of games. With the digital edition you have to go through Sony and Microsoft who will always take their cut. With the optical drive, you can go to the second hand market, buy old games for lower cost etc, so obviously Gamestop and Best Buy prefer to sell the standard version with the optical drive. I don't know how it is in the US but here in Europe you have access to games for a significantly lower cost if you buy optical. They go on sale much more often than on the digital store</p>
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kingv84
Log in to Reply<p>Am getting the Xbox Series X with GamePass. Am definitely not going to be giving Sony 80 Euros for brand new games. The price hike on games in the EU is terrible.</p>
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Elan Gabriel
Log in to Reply<p>We still need to learn how much the 1TB expansion dongle for Xbox will cost. People are ignoring this, but it's a crucial piece of the puzzle. Moreover if you're getting the Series S.</p>
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christophercollins
Premium MemberLog in to Reply<blockquote><a href="#575522"><em>In reply to egab:</em></a><em> It is supposed to be comparable to upgrading a Sony drive. They both use PCI Gen 4 SSD's and they are still expensive. Just looking at prices of drives that *might* work with Sony, the XBox drive leaked at about $20 higher. $199 for the bare drive (probably for Sony) and $219 for the same drive in an enclosure that plugs into the XB SS and SX. </em></blockquote><blockquote><br></blockquote><blockquote><em>It's made by Seagate, so $20 for the cartridge style with no disassembly isn't that bad. I also like that the option is still there to have a platter drive hooked up. If the machines are smart enough, each could move games in and out of the SSD's based on what you're playing.</em></blockquote><p><br></p>
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Jorge Garcia
Log in to Reply<blockquote><em><a href="#575528">In reply to ChristopherCollins:</a></em></blockquote><p>Yeah I don't see EVERY title needing the SSD to "function" for a while still. So, like you, I'd also expect the consoles to know that you have a slow mechanical drive plugged in and basically tell you what you need to put where. I'd greatly prefer that to it doing it automatically and unilaterally, although that day may have to come eventually.</p>
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SRLRacing
Log in to Reply<blockquote><em><a href="#575534">In reply to JG1170:</a></em></blockquote><p>Jason Ronald (Head of Xbox hardware with the beard) says you do have the option of storing games you aren't playing on an external HDD and moving them over to the SSD when you want to play them. Also if you have games installed from your Xbox One on a external HDD you can literally plug that drive in to the new console and the games will just play. </p>
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Slvrgun
Log in to Reply<p>Microsoft should have announced Lockhart after the PS5 price reveal.</p>
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codymesh
Log in to Reply<blockquote><em><a href="#575529">In reply to Slvrgun:</a></em></blockquote><p>maybe next time the tech blogosphere shouldn't turn console reveals into metagames with their leaks </p>
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Paul Thurrott
Premium MemberLog in to ReplyAre you suggesting that bloggers/press should work hand in hand with the companies they cover and just become an external arm of their PR departments? That’s a scary world I wouldn’t want to live in.
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Paul Thurrott
Premium MemberLog in to ReplyThe original plan was to announce it this week.
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Maitreya Vyas
Log in to Reply<p>It's time to reveal Xbox Series X Digital Edition. </p>
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fiddle
Log in to Reply<p>Looks like you have the pricing messed up on the pictures. The version with the optical drive is showing the lower price. </p>
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bart
Premium MemberLog in to Reply<p>$399 oof! That is better than I expected. Is going to be a big problem for MS…..</p>
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Vladimir Carli
Premium MemberLog in to Reply<blockquote><em><a href="#575678">In reply to Bart:</a></em></blockquote><p><br></p><p>I think so too. A lot will depend from how good is the series S. That's not clear until the reviews will be out. </p><p>Another big problem I see for Microsoft is PS+ collection. It's only 20 games vs. 100+ on gamepass but they are all heavy titles that people actually want. Sony has been smart because now they can advertise something that is somewhat like gamepass. They are incredibly good at marketing. So good that if you ask any teenager (I actually tried to ask) they believe that Sony owns Spiderman, which is obviously not the case. This is an area where Microsoft definitively needs to improve if they want to gain market share</p>
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daveevad
Log in to Reply<p>Microsoft could dominate this holiday if they pulled a "One More Thing" and announced a $399 All Digital Series X. </p><p><br></p><p>Selfishly, that's what I want. I haven't put a disc in a console since the digital version of Halo Reach released for the 360. I'd love to save $100 since I will, most likely, never use the disc drive.</p>
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Paul Thurrott
Premium MemberLog in to ReplySuspect they’re already losing enough money on each of the existing consoles. Sony must be taking a bath on the All-Digital version at that price.
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remc86007
Log in to Reply<blockquote><em><a href="#575703">In reply to paul-thurrott:</a></em></blockquote><p>I agree that Sony is taking a bath on the all-digital edition, but I suspect that the Series X is priced right around the break-even point (not including R&D and distribution costs). Here is my guess on the math: Shell, lights and buttons $60; Optical Drive $20; fan and heatsink $20; Power Supply $50; APU/Mainboard $300; NVME SSD $50. I guess throwing in the controller does make it a loser, but not by much. I'm sure they have a pricing step down agreement with AMD that makes this $50 cheaper by next year sometime.</p><p><br></p><p>I imagine the PS5 is in a similar position except I bet they are paying a bit less for their APU and SSD and a bit more for their shell. Although Microsoft may have a bit more of a volume discount going with AMD since they could leverage their Azure server CPU purchasing as part of the deal (also the inclusion of AMD parts in Surface devices going forward could be part of the deal).</p><p><br></p><p>Financially I think this is Microsoft's generation to lose. One year of Gamepass makes up for any losses on the hardware side. I don't see Sony being able to keep up with Gamepass anytime soon. If Microsoft launches one or two "must have" exclusives; it's revenue is going to be through the roof.</p>
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mattbg
Premium MemberLog in to Reply<p>Interestingly, both of the consoles are "cheaper" in Canada – XBox at C$599 and PS5 at C$629.</p><p><br></p><p>Current exchange on US$499 would be around C$670. Not that you can cross the border right now :)</p>
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mattbg
Premium MemberLog in to Reply<p> I'm glad they are reaching out with the designs a bit, but putting two pictures of the Sony console seems a bit redundant 🙂 Then again, if you have twins you still put two pictures on your desk when you really only need one.</p>