Sony PS5 to launch in November, price starts from under RM2,000

Sony has finally announced the launch date and price for the PlayStation 5 (PS5). This follows months of drip-feeding gamers details on the console’s features and various launch games.

We now know that the new console will launch in select markets like the U.S. and Japan on 12 November and later to the rest of the world including Asia on 19 November. The company also revealed that the PS5 Digital Edition will cost USD 399.99 (~RM1,652) while PS5 with an Ultra HD Blu-ray disc drive will retail for USD 499.99 (~RM2,065).

There is, however, no indication of its local price or whether Malaysia will be among the first wave of countries to get the console. Back in 2013, the PlayStation 4 was also launched at USD 399 and in Malaysia, it was sold for RM1,799.

If you were to look at the PS5’s European, U.K. and Japanese starting prices, which are EUR399.99 (~RM1,946), GBP359.99 (~RM1,920) and JPY39,980 (~RM,1574) respectively, they are all below RM2,000 after conversion. With that said, we can expect the PS5 Digital Edition to be priced below RM2,000 in Malaysia.

It appears that Sony has one-upped Microsoft as pre-orders start as early as 17 September at select retailers in the U.S. Last week, Microsoft announced it would open pre-orders for its Xbox Series S and Series X on 22 September.

Sony’s next-generation console will utilise a new set of accessories that include the new DualSense controller and a wireless headset that supports 3D audio. Here’s how much each new accessory will cost:

DualSense Wireless Controller – USD69.99 (~RM289)

Pulse 3D wireless headset – USD 99.99 (~RM413)

HD Camera – USD 59.99 (~RM248)

Media Remote – USD 29.99 (~RM124)

DualSense Charging Station – USD 29.99 (~RM124)

Apart from that, the console maker also announced its new PlayStation Plus Collection. It is described as a new PlayStation Plus benefit for the next-generation console that offers players an entire collection of some the best PS4 games to play at launch.

There are a total of 15 games in the collection that include classic first-party titles such as Uncharted 4, God of War, The Last of Us: Remastered, Bloodborne. The collection also includes notable third-party games like Fallout 4, Mortal Kombat X, Persona 5 and Batman Arkham Night.

According to Sony, players just need to download the games to play them, so it is not a streaming service. There is, however, no word as to whether players need to pay any additional fees on top of their PlayStation Plus membership. We expect Sony to provide more details closer to the launch date.

Launch games galore

Apart from the reveal of the launch date, Sony also showcased some of its first-party games along with third-party partners to drum up hype for the PS5 this holiday season. It began its near hour-long virtual representation with a bang, showcasing the latest entry to Square Enix’s long-running RPG series, Final Fantasy XVI (that’s 16 in Roman numerals). Little information has been offered about the game aside from a sneak peek at what appears to be real-time combat and plenty of jaw-dropping CGI cutscenes.

There’s also a new Harry Potter game called Hogwarts Legacy that is set in a completely different era before the books. In it, players appear to take on the role of a student in the famous school of wizardry back in the 1800s. The game is set to offer players a new perspective to the Harry Potter universe, so expect to be mixing potions, taming fantastic beasts and casting spells in the new game.

We also saw more gameplay videos of games that we have seen back in June such as Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales. The action-packed superhero game will launch with an Ultimate Edition that comes with a remastered version of the 2018 hit-game Marvel’s Spider-Man. That’s plenty of content for your buck.

Sony saved the best for last as it teased that the sequel to the 2018 God of War is scheduled to be out next year. The game will be developed by Sony’s Santa Monica studio and will pick up after the end of the journey embarked by protagonist Kratos and his son, Atreus, in the first game.

Other upcoming games such as Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, Devil May Cry 5 Special Edition, Oddworld: Soulstorm, Demon’s Souls and Deathloop also made an appearance during the presentation. According to Sony, the price of their first-party PS5 titles are expected to be between USD 49.99 (~RM206) to USD 69.99 (~RM289).

The start of a new console war

Both Sony and Microsoft have been very secretive about their next-generation consoles for months, keeping the launch dates and price under wraps. The two rival console makers waited for their counterpart to announce the price of their console first, no doubt with the intention to undercut the rival’s pricing. 

In the past, the price of a console has played a major role in determining its success or failure. Back in 2006, Microsoft capitalised on Sony’s blunder when it priced the PS3 at a whopping USD 599 (RM2,488) though the PlayStation maker flipped the script in 2013 when it launched the PS4 USD 100 cheaper than the Xbox One.

Sony first revealed the new PlayStation console back in June where it announced two variants: a digital edition and another with an optical drive.

In case you are not caught up, the latest PlayStation will boast the ability to play games in 4K at 120fps, boast 3D audio support and backwards compatibility with PS4 games. The console is powered by an AMD Ryzen “Zen 2” CPU paired with 16GB of GDDR6 RAM. For graphics, it uses an AMD Radeon RDNA 2 architecture. 

The console also touts a custom 512GB NVMe SSD that is purported to load 2GB of data in just 0.27 seconds.

There were, however, concerns that there would be shortages of PlayStation 5 units during launch. Back in late August, Sony opened the PS5 for pre-order (though only for the U.S.) and it said there will be a limited quantity of consoles available for pre-order this holiday season.

Those concerns seemed to have been confirmed by a Bloomberg story that said Sony may have a shortfall of some 4 million consoles due to “production issues with its custom-designed system-on-chip for the new console.” Sony has since denied the report stating the information was false. “We have not changed the production number for PlayStation 5 since the start of mass production,” the company said.

Last week, Microsoft revealed that its two next-generation Xbox consoles: the Series S and Series X will launch in the U.S. on 10 November. The Redmond-based company only disclosed the price of the Xbox Series S at USD 299.99 (~RM1,243) though the more powerful Series X is priced at USD 499.99 (~RM2,071).

Now that Sony has finally released details on the PS5, what do you think of the price? Which version would buy? Leave your thoughts in the comment section below.

Editor’s note: An earlier version of this article stated the price of the Xbox Series X at USD 599 based on an earlier estimated pricing by retailers. We have since updated it with the official price provided by Microsoft.

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