(Updated) Sony Revealed the PS5 Releases on Nov 12th. 399 for the Digital and 499 for the Disc version. Which will you get?
When Sony announced their next Playstation event for September 16th; many assumed there would be a reveal of the price and launch date for the Playstation 5. This was assumed as Microsoft has already announced a price and date for their system and since the assumption is that the PS5 will launch around the same time as the Xbox One X; it seemed like a natural time for the news.
The other day news started to circulate that the showcase would instead focus on game reveals and would not include release date and pricing information.
Naturally this made many fans of the system that are eager to know when they can get the new system and how much it will cost them uneasy. Some speculated that Sony has not locked down a firm price yet and now that Microsoft has disclosed their pricing; they are looking at their options. Others have speculated on a number of possible reasons ranging from supply issues to the need to ensure that there are enough games available at launch.
On our show the other day I discussed a couple of options which may be behind this move. Sony may still be trying to decide how the system will be available at launch. The company opened up a request page where people could get in line to buy the new system from Sony and would be informed if they are selected.
For those of us who have credits at retailers ready to apply to this system this is not an ideal option. However if supplies are indeed going to be limited at the start is it possible that Sony will control the distribution themselves until retail outlets are able to be adequately stocked.
A report the other day indicated that Sony had set aside numerous flights to fly the systems in versus shipping by sea in order to expedite stock but 60 planes worth of systems may seem like a huge number but in the larger picture this may only be about 1 million units.
The Wii and Nintendo Switch had limited availability at launch and I had some retailers tell me that they believed Nintendo was holding back units to increase anticipation. The thinking was that if the unit was hard to find; consumers who were likely to wait would be more inclined to get one as they would know they were hard to obtain and when they became more readily available consumers would snatch them up as fast as they could be put on the shelves.
That brings up another factor to consider; Covid 19. With the Pandemic still in full swing and many expecting an uptick as we get into the Flu season; shipping will likely take longer especially with the issues facing the Post Office in the U.S. and the Holiday Season rush which will put even more pressure on shippers who are already struggling to meet demands.
There is also the fact that many retail locales are not open or have limited traffic as many consumers are still very cautious about venturing to retail locations and the idea of standing in line to pre-order and pick up a pre-order is not appealing as they would rather order online and have the system delivered.
Another factor is that Sony is planning a price and release date reveal in October. They know what Microsoft has planned so Sony could be planning to drop a series of launch window exclusives tomorrow to build further excitement.
The strategy behind this would allow them to do an October price and launch date reveal as well as a list of launch window titles. Microsoft will reportedly be light on AAA exclusives for their system for the first year so Sony could be planning an aggressive strategy of a lower price point combined with a list of exclusives in the first quarter of launch in an effort to ensure their system has all the advantages at launch.
Whatever their reasons; consumers will have to wait a bit longer but Sony will likely have to reveal the launch information before October ends to ensure consumers have adequate time to prepare.
