PS5 pre-orders may start this week — here's what we know

The PS5 may have its price and availability details finally made public this week, although the source of this claim should be taken with a grain of salt.

It's according to a now deleted tweet made by UK retailer Game (but screencapped by TheSixthAxis). This was sent yesterday (September 8) by the account belonging to Game's Guildford, Surrey location, and claims that there will be a PS5 event this week, assuring those who have made pre-orders that they will have more news to share soon.

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What can't be figured out from this tweet is if it's based on information sent directly from Sony to Game stores, or if this was based on other leaks. For example a recent 4Chan leak has suggested there was an incoming Sony event this week, but Sony itself has said that this week there's no PS5 announcement planned, focussing instead on its PlayStation VR platform instead.

Of course, the tweet could be accurate because it's based on genuine insider information. But it also could just be based on the assumption that Sony will have to announce the PS5 price soon. New consoles tend to launch in November, perfectly placed to get a head start in sales thanks to Black Friday and the holiday shopping season in general. That doesn't give Sony a lot of time left to tell the public how much it wants for the new console.

As for the price itself, the consensus is that the PS5 will cost between $500 and $600, with the Digital Edition costing 100 bucks less thanks to the removal of the disc drive. Compared to the Xbox Series X's $499 price tag, and the confirmed $299/£250 price of the basic Xbox Series S, the PS5 may lose sales to gamers looking to make the next-gen jump for the smallest fee possible.

PS5 games leaked boxart

The Game Guildford tweet isn't the only recent piece of enticing PS5 news. Amazon Australia recently saw the upload of some PS5 game boxart (as shown in the below tweet from Twitter gaming commentator Nibellion.

If games are about to be announced and are ready to be preordered, it makes sense for Amazon to have its affairs in order. But while this tells us that an announcement is coming soon, it can't guarantee it'll be this week, particularly when Sony made it clear not to expect anything.