There’s been a pretty hefty amount of information flowing around about Sony’s upcoming PlayStation 5, and we’ve covered a good bit of it. From recent sourceless rumors that the console would be technologically inferior to its competition, to discussions over the significantly different controller that the developers released, there’s plenty to discuss.
One of the most important discussions for the average consumer, of course, is how much of a dent a console will be putting in their wallet. This is especially true in today’s market where a drastically high number of workers have been furloughed or laid off amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, especially in the United States.
Sony reportedly anticipates PS5's price will come in at around “$499-$549.” https://t.co/WjcuLOJqF4 pic.twitter.com/yocllUdr0c
— IGN (@IGN) April 16, 2020
Reports have come out that the console will have a pretty hefty price tag with it after all. The PlayStation 5 is reportedly going to have a price in the lower to mid $500 range.
Part of the high price tag seems because of a limited amount of production that will be coming out during launch, with Sony stating that they’ll be making fewer PlayStation 5’s at launch than it did for the launch of the system’s predecessor, the PlayStation 4. This was reported by a Bloomberg report, with sources claiming that the developers will make “5 to 6 million units of the PlayStation 5 in the fiscal year ending March 2021.”
This is certainly a heavy departure from the launch of the predecessor, which sold more than 7,000,000 units in less than half a year after launch. Given that Sony intends to make fewer of the new console than it’s predecessor sold, it seems like units will definitely be limited.
Of course, this also all depends on when the PlayStation 5 launches. While the target of 2020’s holiday season is still active, there’s no telling if Sony can make that window given delays to production from the COVID-19 pandemic, though they insist it isn’t setting them back. Hypothetically, though, if it releases around November, then that fiscal year will only have four months until it closes, meaning that they’ll have plenty more on shelves for the start of the next one without having fewer than the PlayStation 4’s launch, which was launched in mid-November as well.
Still, it’s likely that Sony is releasing them in limited quantities to push sales up, and given that the price is supposedly going to be at least 25% higher than the PlayStation 4, which was $400 at launch, that might net them a good bit of extra cash. Either way, we’ll know more as reports continue and Sony confirms the pricing themselves.
