At the tail end of their presentation today, Sony finally answered the question fans have been waiting for all summer. The PlayStation 5 is slated to come out on November 12 for Japan, North America, Australia, New Zealand, and South Korea. Most of the rest of the world will have to wait until November 19. The “worldwide” release date had an asterisk on it, with a fine print notification at the bottom of the screen indicating that a release date for China was “still under exploration and will be announced at a later date.”
With regards to pricing, the PS5 (which uses a Blu-Ray optical disc drive) will be initially retailing at $499.99, which puts it right in the same price bracket as its direct competitor, the Xbox Series X. The PS5 Digital Edition, which does not have an optical drive, will be going for $399.99, putting it a hundred bucks higher than its Microsoft counterpart, the recently announced Xbox Series S.
While there was nothing specific about related hardware, it seems a reasonable supposition that the console, Digital Edition or not, will be packaged in with one DualSense controller and the appropriate cabling to attach it to the TV as well as a USB-C cable to allow for direct data connection and battery charging.
Food For Thought
Now that the information is out there, it will be interesting to see how Day One sales fall out. It would seem Sony is counting on brand loyalty and exclusives like Final Fantasy XVI to drive adoption. There was no mention of a program similar to Microsoft’s “All Access” scheme, which suggests they’re aiming for gamers who have more in the way of disposable income (even during the pandemic) rather than trying to “rent” consoles to players.
It’s also interesting that they put their release date closer to the weekend rather than on a Tuesday like Microsoft, perhaps anticipating that players will want to sit down and dive into the new console.
