Sony has drip-fed us small, surprising PS5 tidbits for months, from the out-of-left-field reveal of the DualSense controller, to the reveal of the physical console design during a games showcase. Now, the company has revealed what PS5 box art will look like.
And, well, it looks like a box. With a video game disc inside. Try to contain your excitement. Sony showcased an official PS5 game box on its PlayStation Blog, using Spider-Man: Miles Morales as an example. For the most part, the PS5 game box looks a lot like its PS4 predecessor.
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The box itself is a translucent blue, but this time, it has a silver border on top rather than a blue one. Instead of a PS4 logo on the side, there’s a PS5 one instead. Naturally, most of the front of the box is dedicated to the game’s title and a piece of artwork. In this case, it’s Miles Morales as Spider-Man in mid-swing.
One thing that’s not clear from Sony’s post is how big the game boxes will be. PS3 game boxes broke tradition a little bit by being smaller than PS2, Xbox and GameCube discs, and PS4 boxes followed suit with a smaller profile. Xbox 360 discs came inside larger cases, but Xbox One games have followed Sony’s lead by decreasing the box size.
This is likely because it’s no longer necessary to include physical instruction booklets and maps, developers opting instead to include that information within the games themselves. Let’s assume, then, that PS5 game cases will be about the same size as PS4 disc containers.
Of course, there’s also the question of how many gamers will opt to buy physical discs once the PS5 comes out. The PS4 and Xbox One arguably normalized downloading console games instead of buying physical discs. The Xbox One S All-Digital Edition doesn’t have a disc drive at all, and the PS5 Digital Edition will follow suit. Naturally, for those who buy digital games exclusively, a title’s box design doesn’t merit consideration one way or the other.
On the other hand, physical media may not be in decline as much as it seems. As recently as two years ago, physical editions could account for as much as 75% of a popular game’s sales. While that number is almost certainly smaller today, it’s unlikely to have cratered completely.
So, there you have it. Physical PS5 games will come in boxes, and those boxes will look pretty much the same as PS4 game boxes. It’s not earthshaking news by any means, but it’s good that Sony is continuing to keep fans in the loop until the next major update. With any luck, we’ll hear about the PS5’s price and release date sooner rather than later.
