What Will Sony's Response Be?

I can not see a world in which it comes in $100 lower. At most the big PS5 will match at $500, with the discless about $50 cheaper. I think they got caught on this one, they probably want $600 and still could, but that's gonna be an uphill fight they have at that point. I'm thinking $500.

I'm thinking $449, with the discless at $399.

499 and 399 for the digital, they're gonna eat it but they can message it as paying for full (scaled) 4K resolution and hope that enough people care about that

I'm more interested in the response to All Access, because that's the real game changer in my opinion

Microsoft wouldn't push with this if they weren't confident with the price point. I'm a Sony boy, so Xbox is out of question for me but I'm happy that Microsoft has put some pressure on Sony to make it competitive. I'm hoping for sub 500 Discless because otherwise, I'll have to re-budget.

i think the price of the disc one is gonna be 500 but the discless 400 cause i assume they will both have the same hardware minus the disc drive

$499 but with desirable exclusives in the launch window. I'd pick up a PS5 + Demon's Souls over an Xbox + nothing. You know Spider-Man is going to sell consoles.

A $399 all-digital PS5 would be $100 more but at least twice as powerful GPU-wise over a Series S. And it would play Demon's Souls and Spider-Man.

It has to be $500 for the regular version and either $400 or $450 for disc-less. Seto Kaiba wouldn't allow for his Blue-Eyes White consoles to be sold at lower prices.

I think they can't go lower than 500 for the high-end one. Spec-wise, that would be a win for Xbox, but with how well PS sells globally and on the back of their exclusives i think that would be received pretty well.

My cynical take: Sony's confidence from being able to position themselves as prestige gaming not only justifies to them to charge more, but makes them not want to be the "cheap" console. They're going to charge more, and use their video game ass video games to make it seem like the place that real gamers go. Optical drive console comes in at $600, the all digital matches the Xbox at $500.

Less cynical take: Sony remembers exactly how fragile a market lead actually is, learns lessons from their failures, and aggressively prices these consoles at a competitive rate. Optical drive console matches the Xbox at $500, the all digital at $400.

Fantasy land take: Sony decides to undercut Xbox and loses money on each console sold. The optical drive console at $400, the all digital at $300. Xbox reacts with an ad where somebody walks by the price tag and bumps it and the "50" fall off to reveal the Xbox Series X is now $350. Sony returns with an even lower price. Both companies do this back and forth until the November release date when the PS5 costs five doll-hairs and Xbox pays you $5 to take the Series X.

I really can't see a way for Sony to do any better than matching Series X pricing. Maybe the discless model could come in $50 under, but even that seems unlikely to me.

I also think the Xbox All Access pricing model will be extremely appealing to a lot of people that have grown accustomed to the same way of paying for hardware + service with cell phones. Based on everything we've heard so far, Sony doesn't have the service offering to be able to match this.

I expect the PS5 to come in at a slightly higher price and Sony will justify it with their first-party lineup. There's not much truly new on either console at launch, but Sony does ever so slightly edge out MS by at least having Miles Morales and the more proven track record with the PS4 library of exclusives.

Honestly, I don't think there's a good reason for anyone to consider buying either at launch. Wait 6-12 months and then decide where to spend your money.

This is exactly what's going to happen. The argument will be, "This is where the software is. You know it, you've seen it, you've even played it. The extra cash will be worth your while."

I’m just glad we’re seeing this competition resulting in some reasonable pricing this gen. Not sure what Sony is going to do, but at least $600 USD seems out of the question now!

If I had to bet money, this is definitely where I'd put it.

The $599 price is something that haunted Sony for years. The PS3 eventually rebounded, but I think it's a mistake they've learned from with the PS4 as well: Don't be more expensive than the other guy. Be cheaper if you can. Or risk losing some market share. (I honestly don't see Sony losing the entire market to MS either way. Nintendo is much more of a threat.)

Disc one will be $500, disc less $450, and they will tout their exclusives as the justification for their price

If they are smart, they would introduce some form of payment plan model like what the series x is doing as well.

My guess is $499 and $449. Would be rad if they did $399 for the discless but it is unlikely. Microsoft has played this really well. I am very intrigued to see what Sony does. I've been in the Sony ecosystem for a while so I'll be getting a PS5 but this news has been really cool to see and I'm sure the Xbox people are excited about it which is awesome!

My gut feeling as that both Microsoft and Sony knew for a while that the PS5 couldn't match the price of the new Xbox offerings. Sony has been trying to avoid being on the other end of a "299" moment, and Microsoft has had no reason not to make them sweat over it.

Sony might be able to get it closer now that they know for sure, but I really doubt it'll come anywhere close. I'd love to eat my words, though.

The reason the disc-less version could be $100 less than the standard PS5 is because digital purchases are in Sony's favor. Consumers are locked into PSN, meaning Sony gets a big cut of all the game buys. All-digital consoles are known trojan horses.

I really doubt they'll charge more than $499. Their library of games is a good argument for picking Playstation over Xbox when you've got two boxes at the same price point, but when if it's a $100 difference you're definitely going to lose some people on that alone. And I'd say the majority won't pick up both, so they'd more or less lose that person's business for the rest of the generation.

Even if they have to take a loss on the console at $499 that's going to be better for them in the long run if they stay within the Playstation ecosystem. Charging an extra $100 out of the gate would be a very short term business strategy.

Unless I'm underestimating the cost of these consoles and even $599 is a loss and they simply can't afford to go lower. But that seems unlikely.

I'm guessing...

Diskless edition to be $449 with 1 yr PS Plus subscription

Disk edition to be $549 with 1 yr PS Plus subscription and game bundle like Spiderman Miles Morales or Godfall

They aren't going to undercut Microsoft.

They will have one model at 400 and one at 500 I think.

A fish wrapped in a newspaper.

I suspect they'll match the price and I would imagine they have at least something on the side ready to counter all this positive Xbox press, but who knows?

I think Sony will match MS's price, at least for the PS5 w/optical drive vs Series X. There is no way they will make the PS3 era mistake of pricing it higher and then trying to justify it. They certainly can't justify the price with games at launch, as they have very few exclusives.

The paranoid cynic in me thinks we are already seeing what Sony's response is

We've been seeing it for months but people are coming out of the woodwork to call the xbox "confusing" because of the S/X distinctions. And if the xses and xsex are launching simultaneously we're definitely going to have stories of "I wanted an xses but I got an xbones" come the holidays that will further play up "stupid grandmas who don't know how to make an informed decision" and blah blah blah.

Spin that with "We want to keep it simple. It is the PS5. Either buy the version with a disc drive or save some money and get the one without. We at Sony just want you to play video games" to get some more of that "microsoft screws up every console launch" energy and it might be enough. Even if the ps5 is more expensive.

I think the PS3's launch price has forever tainted the $599 price mark. The only way PS5 would have come in at $599 is if MS had done $599 or more.

I can see them matching Microsoft's upfront price leveraging Playstation as the home of Call of Duty again - but, also offering a PS5 Plus plan.

$29.99 a month for 24 months that includes PS Plus and some exclusive CoD DLC? EA Pass? Upgraded versions of PS exclusives? All you can play PS All Stars? FF7r-2 Crystalis Gaeia 365/0 as a timed exclusive? A lot of add ons that ultimately don't cost too much, but have a large value to its intended audience.

My guess is that they match $499 on the high one and go somewhere between $429-449 on the diskless. I don't think there's any way that they undercut, and I think they're crazy if they launch at anything higher than $549. Eating the loss on the console itself would be worth it to avoid losing good will/marketshare by charging significantly more for the console.

If you had asked me two days ago, I would've said $599, so I'm sure there are plenty of meetings going on right now about what pricing model they ran six months ago they're gonna pick.

so whats the price?

@zelyre: PlayStation coming out with a payment plan that isn't just "sign up for a PlayStation branded credit card" seems pretty unlikely to me. Xbox's strength is the work they've done with services, and only because of that, they're able to neatly pack together what is basically a subscription service that includes a console. More than that, it just doesn't really seem to be PlayStation's MO.

Also the hangup on the $599 thing seems weird to me. That was a pretty long time ago now, but also $599 is an entirely reasonable price for a powerful console in 2020. It's on the high end of reasonable, but it's not out of the question. The PlayStation 3 launched in 2006, accounting for inflation, that fucker would be over $700 now. $200 more than the PS4 Pro seems about right, to me. Just speculation here, but I think they're in a position where the market will justify spending more there, and I think they know they have that leeway. I won't be surprised if they go for that higher price.

Yeah similar to my thinking.

I think they are also hoping to ride on better reputation. It isn't as bad here, but if you go out in general on twitter and things like that, it is people who really love Sony and are going full console wars still.

Its a mistake both companies have made before. But we'll see because I do find the absence of games on both sides pretty crazy. Its always pretty like this at launch (the media acts like it isn't sometimes, go listen to PS4 launch talk for example) but they are hardly even showing things to come.

Hopefully Sony will step up their services game. I want it to be competitive, should be the best for all of us that way.

And I still want to see more about how the Xbox S performs all this said.

@hatking said:

Same here. Remember when they were thinking it was such a premium that people would get into a limited preorder service to get a chance to buy a new console, sight unseen and without a price tag? Of course you do, it was last week. They will not be able to match MS on price, so they will just say "fuck it" and move ahead with their original plan.

The change from underdog to smug bravado and back to underdog seems to be cyclical, and lasts only a single generation for lessons to be forgotten.

@hatking: While I agree 600 is "reasonable" it is still a "cursed" number and will get "meme'd" to hell and back

Similarly: we are in Unprecedented Times (TM). Just hanging out in chat during streams and there are plenty of folk losing their minds and screaming that it is unethical to have that price point during a pandemic and recession. And while they aren't entirely wrong, they are also forgetting that luxury electronics are still more or less launching at their normal prices and they have always been just that, luxuries.

So if sony goes 599 it will lead to everyone "clowning" on them, a couple dozen youtube videos from the usual suspects, and lots of people screaming that Sony charging so much is the single most unethical and evil thing in gaming.

@gundato: I think all of that is true. I also don't think matching Xbox really is going to set them free of that. There's no reasoning with toxic internet personalities. It doesn't ultimately matter that much. Folks go back to the PS3 thing, it wasn't the hottest console during its heyday, but it wasn't a failure either and it did eventually outsell even the 360. I won't be surprised at anything between $500 and $600 for the console with the optical drive, and I don't think $600 necessarily puts them in an unwinnable position.

Something tells me they will stick to their guns and have it cost more. It would at least establish a steady cycle of arrogance and humility.

The marketing around the PS5 has been pushing it as a premium product from the start. I do agree that the $599 price-point is a little cursed for Sony, which is why I could see them going for a $549/$649 combo.

Of course I hope the price would be lower, but it seems like Sony think they can charge more because of their brand and I think they might be right.

@hatking: Agreed. Which I think gets back to my previous suspicions that this is more or less going to be all PR and not price. And "Microsoft is so confusing. Just let me play games" is a tactic that has worked REALLY well since they cocked up the xbone reveal so badly.

But if Sony can avoid the 600 price point, it will help them a LOT. Which is partially why I suspect we have the disc driveless version at all.

@gundato: I think you're right. My guess is that if they thought they could meet the Xbox at price, they wouldn't have bothered with the lower end model. Having two models works against their whole traditional console messaging. I don't think they have to avoid the $599 number, but if they do, I still see it being higher than $500.

gonna go against the grain and say they announce $549 and $499 discless. I have no faith in them making good decisions.

@hatking: Sony already flew too close to the sun and got burnt. They not only made a mistake of being arrogant in their pricing, but making that mistake right as the Internet ensured that mistakes of the past could never truly be forgotten.

XBox's strength may be the services they've built -but- the biggest strength is they have a way of getting XBox into your hands for a number that's easy to swallow and I think MS is banking on this to sell services they normally wouldn't have.

Sony wouldn't need to offer up the number of services if their monthly plan was cheaper. $29.99 just happens to be ($600/24)+(4.99x24), the price of a $599 PS4 and Playstation Plus. Maybe they could make it a Sony card perk. But with MS showing that hand, I think it's something Sony needs to do too.

You have to consider that there are a lot of folks out there that prefer the smaller numbers that monthly payments provide, even if it's an overall detriment to their finances. '84 month car loan at 9%? Well, the monthly payment is cheaper than my current payment - they even let me trade in my current car even though I still owe on it!' isn't an uncommon thing to hear.

And if Sony can do that with PS5, but make it essentially 0% financing? I have very little interest in console gaming right now and I'm not gonna lie, could see me talking myself into a 0% interest free PS5 spread out over 23 months.

This is my exact thought at well. I wonder if that's why there is such a hangup in announcing the price/no announcement as to when they will do it. They are scrambling right now trying to get the price as low as they can accept. No matter how real or "fake" the leak was, I'm glad MS is really pushing the point now to Sony.

Because big corporations never ever learn, I am going to guess Sony comes in at a price higher than the Xbox Series X and have pretty-much the same tone-deaf hubris they displayed during the early PS3 era.

It is going to cost more money. They will justify it by saying it is more powerful and will probably do fine. People like their exclusives and people know that MS will not be matching them on that front. In North America it will probably be close but Sony will probably outsell MS worldwide, though the gap will not be as big as XB1 vs PS4.

They're not gonna change anything. It's going to cost more and they'll justify it with power and exclusives.

And as long as they don't get too close to the sun again they'll probably be fine for it.

Thanks for the feedback. While I'd like to think Sony isn't arrogant enough to charge more for the PS5 than the Xbox Series X, there are a lot of signs that show they just might do it:

1. Them bragging about their console having little to no load times

2. Them constantly claiming their launch consoles will be in short supply, so pre-order quickly.

3. Them having a pre-order raffle on their website, where based on gaming history, only the most loyal PS fans will be chosen.

4. Them coming out with a pure gold edition of the PS5 which will cost 10K

Everything about Sony's messaging is similar to the ones the Neo-Geo had back in the day. And for those too young to remember, that console was also $599 with their games costing from $100-300 dollars. And like Sony is now, Neo-Geo bragged about their game exclusives and how they were modern arcade quality unlike the Genesis and the SNES. To their credit, they weren't lying.

I honestly believe that a spy for Microsoft saw where Sony was going to price the Disc version of PS5 at $599 and the Digital Only version at $499 and jump on it with their leaks undercutting them. I hope Sony does the right thing and match their pricing at least for the Disc version of PS5, but I doubt it.

If they had no intention of price matching and was fully intent on just releasing it at whatever price they had already decided then waiting this long really wouldn't make any sense. There's nothing to be gained in this scenario by waiting until after Microsoft unless they were willing to adjust their pricing to stay competitive.

I obviously can't completely rule out the possibility they'll end up charging more, but if it happens I'm certain the reasoning will be more complex than mere "arrogance". And I don't mean that in a way to defend Sony, it's just not rational.

@hatking: I'm actually with you. They've been positioning themselves like they're Apple. I've been expecting $599 this entire time because they can... But maybe this will force their hand. Who knows!

@colonel_pockets: Right. Obviously this is all speculation based purely on their past behavior and what little they’ve shown so far. But they definitely have that velvet rope vibe, and I think they can get away with charging more.

This is my guess too.

I know $600 is high, but if both Ratchet & Clank and Spider-Man are good and available close to launch, I think Sony will risk it.

All Sony's marketing focuses on how the PS5 will deliver new experiences that are worth drawing a clear line between generations. That sounds like "luxury" messaging to me, and Microsoft has set Sony up perfectly to justify a higher price. Microsoft talks about specs a lot, but their strongest selling points at launch will be hardware agnosticism and the value of their services - - not actual next-gen experiences.

I assume Sony stands to profit more from buyers of the all-digital version and will be willing to take a loss on that one for the sake of competing.

They will match the price of the X series and be about 50-100 cheaper with the digital only, since I believe it is a full powered console and not a nerfed one like the S series.