Sony made a critical mistake for the PS3 back in 2006, unveiling a price exorbitantly higher than its competition. The console's price point, coupled with several other issues with the console's infrastructure, helped contribute to Xbox 360's rise to fame. The PS3 then spent practically the rest of the generation playing catch up, and did eventually come up to par with the Xbox 360 several years later. Sony then countered the balance with PS4, and has seen great success ever since. Now, Sony will be releasing the PS5 next Fall.
The PS5 finds itself in a similar situation as the PS3, with a new console generation launch coming this fall. Xbox Series X has already announced and unveiled a lot about Microsoft's next gaming console, while Sony remains mysteriously silent on the next PlayStation. Only theories have been shared around about Sony's tight-lipped nature for now. That being said, Sony is leading the charge with its PS5 reveal, and the price could make or break the system's success.
PS3 Price Fiasco
When the PS3 launched in 2006, the system was far more expensive compared to the Xbox 360, which had already been out for a year. Sony's latest PlayStation cost a whopping $499 and $599 for the standard and premium models respectively. The already-released Xbox 360 released with a launch price of $299 and $399 for both of its models. Not a huge disparity in concept, but it was enough to tip the hand of consumers looking to get the most value of next-gen gaming. As time went on, it was clear that Xbox 360 was the favorable console among consumers, boasting bigger sales numbers and better features for online through Xbox Live.
As for the PS3, the system had its own respective success among core PlayStation fans. Over time the console began to sell relatively well, enough to warrant a mid-generation system refresh that sold more competitively against the Xbox 360. That being said, the console lagged behind in a number of ways. It's complex software architecture made developing for the console much more difficult, leading to delays in DLC like with much of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim's expansions. The PlayStation Network infrastructure also saw plenty of controversy, with several high profile data hacks that stole the personal information of thousands of players, not to mention online multiplayer was down for several weeks. Couple that with the early on price issues, and PlayStation wasn't in the best spot during the seventh generation.
Coming Off Great Success
All of these issues, for the most part, were improved and eliminated with the PS4. Thanks to some brilliant marketing and an aggressive push towards exclusive games and its gamer-first public image, PS4 sold huge numbers compared to its competitor Microsoft and the Xbox One's shortcomings. Now in the transition period from a historical console generation for Sony, it seems the PS5 finds itself in a similarly precarious spot that it did with the PS3. Coming off PS4's success, PS5 have to nail the price range despite not announcing it during the reveal this week.
Xbox has gotten the jump on Sony thus far, already unveiling the console way back in 2019 during The Game Awards. All that was known about the PlayStation 5 was the DualSense controller, prior to the system reveal. Sony did give some details during the Road to PS5 showcase, but that information was specifically geared towards developers instead of consumers. This week was the first official reveal of upcoming first-party games, though it was unclear if the console and/or price would be announced. Frankly it wouldn't have been a mistake to unveil the price at this point, considering how much consumers already know about the Xbox Series X.
An Appropriate Price for PS5
Which brings up the issue of price. Many fans and pundits from the industry have been discussing what would be an acceptable price for the next generation consoles. Among several worldwide economic factors like the Covid-19 pandemic and the hardware supply shortages for PS5 and Xbox Series X, narrowing down a price range for both consoles is very uncertain in 2020. Bloomberg had reported earlier this year that the PS5 manufacturing cost was estimated to be around $450 per unit due to flash memory hardware in the PS5 rising in price. In that context, many have pointed out that $499.99 would be a realistic price point assuming Bloomberg's number is accurate.
While that is about $100 higher than the PS4's launch price of $399, pair that with inflation and the rising costs of hardware in 2020, and it's really not unreasonable. The issue only rises if the price is any amount higher than $499, for a few reasons. Mainly PlayStation would not want to make the same mistake of high-balling their release price similar to how the PS3 did. On the flip side, selling it any loss greater than Sony would lose at a $500 price point would be financially bankrupting for the PS5, considering the estimated manufacturing costs. That's not even factoring in any shipping/distribution fees, Sony will incur for each console to be sold around the world. And lastly, the average consumer would likely find that $500 falls into a perfect middle-ground, not unaffordable but not too expensive.
Of course, regardless of price, there's still plenty of promising next-gen titles and exclusives coming to the PS5. Games like Godfall and Assassin's Creed Valhalla will be setting the bar for next-gen games overall, while Horizon Forbidden West and God of War 2 will emphasize the best of Sony's exclusive lineup as well. While it may be disappointing fans still don't know how much the PS5 or Xbox Series X will cost, next-generation should be awfully exciting for fans this fall.