The two major console manufacturers bring their latest generation onto the market for Christmas. After Microsoft has already published the release and price of the Xbox X, rival Sony is following suit with its Playstation 5 – and is confident.
Sony announced the purchase price and release date for the new Playstation 5 at a gaming event. There will be two different versions of the new PS5 consoles. The digital version without CD drive is the cheaper option at 399 euros. The console with drive is available for 499 euros. The Playstation 5 will be released in Germany on November 19, 2020, a week earlier in the USA.
So Sony is following in the console battle with Microsoft. The new Xbox X will be released on November 10th and cost 499 euros. The small version Xbox Series S goes for 299 euros over the counter. Like Sony's digital console version, the S model dispenses with a drive.
Playstation CEO Jim Ryan, however, predicts that his company will be ahead in the direct battle with Xbox, even though the rival is putting up a cheaper game console for the Christmas season. "The price is obviously a factor, I would be a fool to deny it," Ryan told the Financial Times. However, the past has shown that stories do not always end happily with cheaper consoles.
The Japanese electronics company is said to have recently lowered its production forecasts for the new Playstation 5 game console by more than a quarter, according to an agency report. The reason for this are production problems with the custom-made chips for the new console, said insiders at the Bloomberg news agency. Sony has reduced the forecast for production in the current fiscal year by four million to eleven million pieces.
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