23/06/2020
PlayStation 5 price: cheaper Digital Edition
(Image credit: Sony PlayStation)
June's PlayStation live event revealed not one but two PS5s - the PS5 and PS5 Digital Edition - and that may be a significant marker when it comes to the PS5 price. A dual device strategy means that Sony can keep at least one model more affordable while still offering a more fully-featured PS5.
While not confirmed, it is thought that the full-fat, disc-playing PlayStation 5 and the more affordable, disc-less PlayStation 5 Digital Edition will have performance parity, with the optical drive the only difference between the two.
It would seem sensible to predict that the aim is for the PS5 Digital Edition to dip below the magic £400/$400 barrier, while the version with the disc drive might be more like £499/$499. Surely Sony wouldn't risk a launch price of over £500/$500, would it?
Well, just days after the console's reveal, PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan told the BBC that Sony is looking to "emphasise value as opposed to price", which sounds rather like a way of justifying that the PS5 will be a pricey bit of kit.
Perhaps the most telling piece of news so far on the PS5 price is the PlayStation 5 product page leak on Amazon France, spotted by Twitter user Ben Geskin, which stated that the PlayStation 5 would be 500 euros with the PS5 Digital Edition at 400. Given the usual differences in currency and region, this would seem to point at launch prices of £450/$450 for the PS5 and with the PS5 Digital Edition at £350/$399 in the UK and US.
As ever, it's important to take such leaks and rumours with a pretty huge pinch of salt. After all, everyone's a Photoshopper and deepfakes are rife. The interesting side note here is that, if true, the Amazon France post also points to a PS5 release date of 20th November 2020. Too neatly positioned within the holiday period?
It seems so. Just a few days later Amazon France issued a response to Techradar saying, that the screen grab image is a fake.