We’re about a year away from the most exciting holiday season in years for gamers. Both Sony and Microsoft will start selling the PlayStation 5 and Project Scarlett before next Christmas, and both consoles are expected to deliver significant performance boosts compared to their predecessors due to considerable hardware improvements. Neither Sony nor Microsoft has committed to actual launch dates, and we have no idea what these devices will look like, or how much they’ll cost when they do finally make their way to store shelves.
What we do have are price rumors that suggest the PS5 might be pricier than the PS4 and PS4 Pro. But Sony actually addressed PS5 price concerns during its latest call with investors, and consumers should be excited.
A few weeks ago, a leak claimed that the PS5 would cost €499 in Europe, which would likely translate to $499 in the US. While Sony has yet to reveal the actual price of the console, the company’s CFO Hiroki Totoki addressed concerns about the console’s price during a recent earnings call, T3 reports.
The executive said the profitability of the PS5 will depend on the price, but made it clear Sony is “analyzing the cost, the acceptable price in the market, and platform penetration,” while being “very conscious of the level of profit for investors and for the marketplace.”
This seems to suggest that Sony is looking to make the most of the PS5 launch when it comes to sales, and the best way to ensure that is to come up with an affordable pricing scheme that convinces the most consumers to upgrade. A different leak said the PS5 might launch in early December 2020, as Sony is looking to secure a significant supply of chips ahead of the PS5’s release.
Totoki also touched on the 2020 holiday launch window, saying that it’s the “most important step in developing the PlayStation platform.” Customers are more likely to purchase brand new consoles during the Christmas shopping season, and Sony will definitely want to make the most of it next year.
The Xbox Scarlett should be priced similarly, considering the fierce competition between Sony and Microsoft. But we’ll have to wait a while before the two companies announce the two consoles officially — the PS5 could be unveiled in full as soon as February, according to some reports.
