The COVID-19 pandemic still ravages the world, and its effects are still being felt in the game industry. With games like The Last of Us Part II now indefinitely delayed, and just about every event cancelled or moved online, it’s only a matter of time before the next generation feels the heat.
A report from Bloomberg claims that Sony is going to manufacture fewer consoles than they normally would for a launch like this. They aren’t directly blaming the pandemic, but it’s easy to connect the dot here. The report also mentions potential pricing, so let’s see what’s new!
The PS5 Will be Incredibly Hard to Find at Launch
Numerous gaming outlets have broke the news, originally reported by Bloomberg in mid-April of 2020, that Sony may not be manufacturing very many PS5 consoles for launch compared to other major product roll outs.
Sony is quoted as saying they will only manufacture between 5 and 6 million PS5’s between the launch and the end of the fiscal year (March 31, 2021). The PS4, which was notoriously hard to find at launch, sold 7.5 million consoles in the first two quarters of its release.
While the pandemic isn’t the immediate reason for this, the real issue is that certain components are difficult to find in high quantities right now. This could be due to ongoing shortages, but it’s most certainly a partial result of the constraints on global supply chains due to the coronavirus shutting down manufacturing centers.
The report claims that the price will be higher than expect at launch, due to the technical specs of the system, and the scarcity of the parts. Speculation points to somewhere between $499 and $549, which lines up with our pricing predictions.
Production for the system is scheduled to begin in June of 2020, but it remains to be seen if the pandemic will have any effects on the release date (which remains simply “holiday 2020”).
Sony’s goal remains to have a worldwide launch of the system, but the pandemic could change this, as well as the availability of launch titles. We don’t know anything for certain yet, and that’s perhaps the scariest news of all.
Stay safe out there fellow gamers.
Article by – Bradley Ramsey
Insert date – 4/16/2020