With the launch of PS5 slowly sneaking up upon us, and PS5 developers prepping their next-generation games, let’s take a look at the potential price point of PS5. Just how much will PS5 cost?
To work out a figure, we need to rewind back and take a look at the launch of other PlayStation consoles and those of Sony’s competitors. Here are the launch prices of each PlayStation console.
- PlayStation – $299
- PlayStation 2 – $299
- PlayStation 3 – $599
- PlayStation 4 – $399
- PlayStation 4 Pro – $399
How Much Will PS5 Cost?
There was a huge jump in cost between PS2 and PS3 due to the expensive architecture used in the latter. PS3 was not only a big leap from its predecessor, but Sony totally over-priced it in comparison to Xbox 360, yet still managed to lose money with the cost to produce each unit reported to be over $800.
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However, the foundations were now laid down nicely for PS4, which is why we saw a price drop as it was less costly to produce than PS3. Still, it was reported that Sony lost around $60 for each PS4 console sold – a figure that they’ve easily recouped with sales of PS4 games and services such as PlayStation Plus over the years.
So, that takes us to PS5. One thing we can pretty certain of, and this is based on the launch of practically every console that’s ever been released, is that the PS5 price will end in 99. So, that leaves us with the big figure that we’re all dying to know.
Judging by what we know of the PS5 specifications, the PS5 price will almost certainly clock in somewhere north of that magic $399 price tag, simply because the BOM (Bill of Materials) that comprises the machine, including such cutting edge technology as a massively powerful CPU/GPU combo, 4K Blu Ray drive, high speed RAM and super fast SSD solution, is all extremely costly to manufacture. This means that Sony will either have to stomach a fairly large loss on each PS5 sold, or, pass that additional cost onto the consumer in the form of a higher priced console.
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Ironically, Microsoft looks set to face the same questions regarding the price and manufacturing costs of its next-generation console – the Xbox Series X, too. The reason for this is that, perhaps even more than the current-gen Xbox One and PS4 consoles, both PS5 and Xbox Series X are much more similar in terms of technical specification – both use AMD manufactured CPUs, GPUs, a 4K Blu Ray drive and high speed SSD drives.
That said, Sony definitely learned a lesson from the high price point of the PS3, so we don’t expect the company to make the same mistakes for PlayStation 5. We also know that Sony has now sold more PS4’s than its predecessor – over 100 million to date. Of course, being five years into its life-cycle, it has received plenty of price cuts from it’s original cost of $399.
As a result, the user base is huge, and it’s there ready for the next generation. Consequently, if the price is right, PS5 will surely fly off the shelves from day-one.
We reckon, however, that there could be a premium version too that will offer more than the standard console, maybe in the form of a larger HDD, and could cost users upwards of $499.
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What Do Analysts Say About PS5 Price?
There hasn’t been too much speculation yet about the cost of PS5 to consumers. However, Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter has suggested that next-generation hardware won’t be positioned at $500, citing the failure of previous consoles that have been sold at a higher price point.
“I don’t think next gen consoles will be $500… though I guess the right answer is, let’s see what happens with the Xbox One X,” he said.
Microsoft’s Xbox One X has since retailed at $499 when it launched in November 2017 and has been “performing phenomenally” according to the NPD.
He also observed that consumers are unlikely to spend money on a console that is priced higher than a new TV, which could last them a decade or more whereas new console hardware usually runs for half that time lifecycle-wise. It will be interesting if this sort of thinking holds up for PS5 and Xbox One Series X too.
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What Can We Expect From PS5?
Backwards compatibility with PS4 games is a certainty, and while we don’t have all the PS5 specs as yet, we’re guaranteed a much more powerful console capable of 8K resolution, hardware ray tracing and the almost complete removal of loading screens from PS5 games.
It’s also rumored that Sony is planning big changes for the PlayStation Network. Taking inspiration from what Microsoft does very well, reports suggest that an infrastructure overhaul is planned. No details have yet been revealed.
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What price will you pay for PS5? What do you think will be the cost for users at launch? Let us know in the comments below. In the meantime, we’ll update this article with any rumors or news we hear ahead of the PS5’s releases sometime during Holiday 2020.