The PS5's fatal flaw might be its high price. And while there have been rumors and leaks suggesting the console can cost upwards of $700, one industry expert has spoken out to say that Sony likely won't sell PS5 for that much.
As spotted by EssentiallySports, former Xbox executive Albert Penello tweeted in response to rumors that the PS5 could cost $600. You can read his response below, but he essentially finds it near impossible to believe that the console would cost more than $499.
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I believe in the saying "never say never"But I gotta say never. No way this console is over $499.June 12, 2020
Of course Penello doesn't have any current insider knowledge, since he doesn't work for Xbox anymore and never worked for PlayStation. However, his experience in the sector means his opinion carries more weight than most.
He later added to his first tweet, mentioning that price would be incredibly important to judging the success of the PS5 and its rival, the Xbox Series X. After a surge of retweets and attention, he tweeted again to make sure people understood that he said "never say never." He also added the context of the relatively low price that made the PS4 a success and the and very high launch price that doomed the PS3.
Oy this tweet really blew up. Must be slow news day. Here's the thing - they forgot the part where I said "never say never". Also, I can't conceive how Sony would go from pricing it's best generation since PS2 @ $399, to pricing from it's worst generation PS3 @ $599. https://t.co/Q3Qaxzd5BXJune 17, 2020
Several PS5 price rumors emerged around the reveal event last week, with some leaked listings painting the PS5 as potentially costing as much as $699.
This is bad not only because it's a large amount, but because the Xbox Series X is expected to undercut the PS5 by a significant amount. This could tempt players without strong loyalty to the PlayStation brand to switch over, costing Sony a big chunk of potential sales.
However, a more recent rumor has us more hopeful about the PS5's price. Amazon France briefly showed the price of the two PS5 consoles in euros on its store page, revealing a cost that converts to around $565 for the Blu-ray drive version and $450 for the Digital Edition. The latter price fits within Penello's expectations, but the one with the disc drive does not. Let's hope he's right about both, since having the ability to use physical media will be a big deal for early adopters with stacks of PS4 games they want to play.
We're gradually learning all the PS5's secrets, and those of the Xbox Series X too, thanks to a series of online reveal events. The PS5 looks to be the console to go for if you want the best exclusive games and immersive 3D audio, but the Xbox will likely have a major framerate and resolution advantage from its more powerful GPU. We won't see either console until around November however, so we've got a lot more speculation to come before we know which system will win this fall's console war.
