According to a new report, Sony's promotional and production plans for PS5 launch are heavily affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Coronavirus pandemic has already affected the video games’ industry in different shapes, but a new unofficial report suggests that it might force Sony to have a much smaller launch for PS5 compared to its current-gen console.

Provided by Bloomberg, some of the internal sources at Sony have revealed the company’s plans for the launch of its next-gen console during Holiday 2020. According to the report, the COVID-19 pandemic has widely affected Sony’s promotional plans for PS5 to a point that they’ve been forced to reveal DualSense, the PS5 controller, in an unfamiliar way to avoid a possible leak by the developers who’ve already received the controllers.

As you may know, PS5 will be using higher-tech hardware compared to its predecessor, which will make it an expensive choice for the players. On the other hand, with the Coronavirus outbreak affecting the production of hardware components, delivering PS5 will be costing even more for Sony, putting the company in the tough position of setting a reasonable price for the upcoming console.

According to the developers who have been making games for PS5, the console would cost consumers in a range of $499 to $549. However, Damian Thong, an analyst from Macquarie Capital, believes that both PS5 and Xbox Series X will be available for $450 at launch even if it wouldn’t be a profitable price for them.

With such an unpredictable situation, Sony seems to have some new plans for launching PS5. According to the company’s assembly partners, Sony would be considering 5 to 6 million units until March 2021, which is nearly 2 million units less than PS4’s sales during its first quarter of launch. That said, the number of production is still a subject to change depending on how things would change with the current global pandemic. It’s being said that the mass production of the console will begin as of June.



On the other hand, according to reports, the Japanese company plans to cut the price for PS4 and PS4 Pro in order to welcome more new users to its online services such as PlayStation Plus and PlayStation Now. PS4 is currently available for $299. PS4 Pro is at $399.

Based on the report, pushing back the release window for PS5 is still a low-possibility option for Sony since Microsoft won’t be changing the launch date for Xbox Series X.

The current situation has avoided Sony’s senior managers to hold a meeting for approving the final business plans. According to the source, only a small number of people at the company are aware of PS5’s final appearance.

PS5 is set to be launched in Holiday 2020, and so far, no official launch titles have been announced for the console from Sony’s first-party studios.

Posted: Apr 19, 2020 9:37 am
Related Forum: PlayStation Forum

Source: https://www.dualshockers.com/sony-struggling-ps5-price-limited-launch/