A lot of discussions has been made around PlayStation 5 these days. We got to learn unconfirmed information about its release window, its architecture and, apparently, its price. According to Julien Chièze’s info (in French), quoting anonymous sources from the industry, the console will most likely keep the $399 price tag that PlayStation 4 and its Pro version had on their release.
Sony has learned a lot since the time they priced PlayStation 3 for $499 and since then their flagship consoles (not slim versions) always come at a price of $399 at launch. After all most of the company’s profit won’t come out of unit sales but software sales after each one’s release. Getting a console is a one-time purchase but after that Sony has proven to be keeping a steady fanbase due to their exclusive releases.
Its price will also be proportional to the price of the previous consoles. For instance, if Playstation 4 Pro price drops below $250 by the time the new console arrives then we might actually see it at a lower price, that scenario is highly unlikely though. However, expect PlayStation 4 and Pro prices to drop drastically after the release of PlayStation 5 just like the console economy dictates. Something like what happens with Xbox One S and Xbox One X.
The other thing that should be considered is if the news that PSVR will be essential to PlayStation 5, is true. If that’s the case then we might be forced to grab a bundle of those two at a higher price. The worst case scenario is that PlayStation 5 plus PSVR will be priced at approximately $599 (or a bit more depending the price PSVR reaches at that time) which is still a reasonable price for what you are getting.
It remains to be seen if all the news we heard is true. We’ll keep you informed of any new information about PlayStation 5 but expect the first teases and announcements after this year’s holidays.
