We got our first look at Sony’s weird n’ wavy Playstation 5 over the summer, but were still left to ponder just how big a hole this thing is going to leave in our pockets. Today, our wallets whimpered with the news that we’ll be somewhere between $399.99 and $499.99 poorer come November 12.
What’s the difference? One has a disc drive and one doesn’t, meaning the latter can only run games downloaded from the PS Store. Microsoft is adopting a similar strategy with its Xbox Series S, which it touts as “the smallest Xbox ever.” Additionally, at $299.99, the Series S will run $100 cheaper than the all-digital PS5. Microsoft’s flagship Xbox Series X, however, will compete head-to-head with the traditional PS5 at $499.99.
Though it’s not explicitly mentioned in this statement from Sony, it was promised earlier this year that the PS5 would be backwards compatible with PS4 games. “We’re expecting backward compatible titles will run at a boosted frequency on PS5 so that they can benefit from higher or more stable frame rates and potentially higher resolutions,” the company said in March.
Both PS5 consoles will be available in the U.S., Japan, Canada, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, and South Korea on November 12. It’ll begin rolling out through the rest of the world beginning on November 19.