Sony has told us nearly everything conceivable about its next-generation video game console, the PlayStation 5. We know its launch games lineup, including the highly anticipated superhero sequel Spider-Man: Miles Morales. We know the devices have a futuristic vibe to them, with curved sides that could look right at home next to a Star Trek starship. We even know the controller has special trigger buttons that give us feedback to make the objects we interact with in the game world feel like they’re here, in our hands.
The only things we don’t know are what it will cost and when it will hit store shelves.
Until now. The company announced on Wednesday it’ll charge $400 (£360) for its “digital edition” without a disc drive, and $500 (£450) for its version with one. Sony’s said both consoles are otherwise have the same chips and other hardware inside. The device will launch Nov. 12 in the US, Japan, Canada, Mexico, Australia (though didn’t give a price), New Zealand and South Korea, and Nov. 19 in the rest of the world. Preorders will start Thursday.
Sony began its event discussing high profile games Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales and Final Fantasy XVI, both of which will be exclusive to the PlayStation. Spider-Man will launch with the console in time for the 2020 holiday shopping season, while Sony didn’t say when Final Fantasy XVI will launch.
The company also showed off Resident Evil Village, the eighth installment in the popular horror franchise, and teased a new sequel to its hit 2018 action adventure game God of War.
Now with the release date and price announced, both Sony and Microsoft’s upcoming consoles mark a key moment for the video game industry, transitioning to new devices that promise faster chips and new features to make games all that much more complex or realistic looking.
Somehow, Sony and Microsoft have made it comically long into their preparations for their dueling next-gen consoles without telling us fundamentals like price and release date. At the beginning of the year, all we knew was that the devices would launch by the holiday shopping season.
The missing information became sort of an inside joke whenever I’d talk with Sony and Microsoft’s teams. I’d work the question in as often as I could, reminding them I have to ask — and them acknowledging that of course I’d ask. PlayStation head Jim Ryan and Xbox head Phil Spencer got the question too.
The lack of information became a meme within the game community, where rumors sprouted that Microsoft and Sony were playing a game of chicken, seeing who’d blink first and announce their price at risk of the other adjusting their price to beat it. For what it’s worth, both companies repeatedly denied that.
But after a series of leaks about Microsoft’s entry-level Xbox Series S that’ll launch alongside its more powerful Xbox Series X, the company said they’d cost $299.99 and $499.99, respectively,…
Read More: PS5 showcase event: $400, Nov. 12 launch, Spider-Man: Miles Morales, PS Plus