After a chaotic and ghastly start to the PlayStation 5 pre-order process, thanks in large part to retailers jumping the gun, fans are hoping for a brighter future. Sony recently came out and admitted things had gone rockier than expected, but provided a glimmer of hope to fans by confirming more systems were going to be available over the next few days and through the holiday season. While that may be true, things may be a bit more complicated with the digital version of the PlayStation 5 than originally thought.
Of the two systems, the digital only PlayStation 5 seemed to be tougher to locate, seemingly selling out faster than its standard edition variant. According to sources, that's to be expected as inventory shows that the standard PS5 version typically has a much higher stock. Retailers in the United Kingdom report the ratios as being anywhere from 75-80% for the standard PS5 to 20-25% for the digital only version.
That trend isn't just for the UK, however, as GameStop chains in the United States are reporting similar ratios for their inventory. In fact, the range may be even greater with some stores reporting a ratio as low as 13% for the digital only model. This is unfortunate news for fans who want to save off some money from the standard edition without giving up any of the next-generation system's overall power.
Unfortunately, these details are not something that Sony seems to be willing to share or even confirm in any capacity. When asked about the digital only model, PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan avoided going into specifics on the actual inventory numbers.
"The ratio between the Digital Edition and the disc drive model is currently something we cannot disclose at this time. We cannot give specific information on numbers, but we can say that we plan to produce the necessary number of units to meet the demand for that model type."
Ryan went on to admit that the company has never produced two different console models at the same time so deciding on an actual ratio isn't easy to know. As such, the company is attempting to predict demand, though there are some fans who are theorizing that if Sony is taking a loss on the cheaper console version, keeping inventory low would be a sneaky way to not take a major financial hit, pushing players to grab the higher priced model instead.
Regardless, the war is set to resume this week as Microsoft takes its first steps into next-gen when both the Xbox Series S and Xbox Series X go up for pre-order on Tuesday. With Sony promising more inventory this week as well, fans shouldn't be surprised to see more PS5 consoles suddenly appear online around the same time as Microsoft kicks up its own pre-orders.
PlayStation 5 launches in US, Japan, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, and South Korea on November 12 and November 19 for the rest of the world.