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[megreotsugua]

*cheaper or same price

ON THE OTHER HAND, THE MAJORITY OF XBOX CONSOLE SOLD WILL BE DIGITAL ONLY.


Either by:

1. Equipping the Digital Edition with double the SSD capacity and selling at $499 or $549.
2. BOTH versions at $399 or $449. Digital Edition comes with Knack 3 pack-in. (to make up for the lack of disc drive)


As a consequence:

• It will shape the narrative that you can share games as usual on PS5.
• It will be promoted by your local video game store as it doesn't threaten their very existence.

Ratio:

• Local video game shop will refuse to carry the all digital version of both playstation and xbox. UNLESS they allow cd-key or digital game cards where video game shop gets a cut. Sony has recently stop retailers from selling digital games which could mean that Sony is not going all-out with digitalization.
• Budget-conscious gamers will still want to have the physical disc option.
• 55% of games sold are digital now but it doesn't mean that 55% of gamers are exclusively digital. I would say the overwhelming majority of gamers, especially the casuals, would still want to buy games from their local video game shop where games could be really cheap on sale.
• Blu-ray edition will still allow borrowing of games between friends, cousins, and classmates. The positive word of mouth that this will create will tip the the positive narrative in favor of the PS5.

Thoughts?

 

[iconmaster]

Just spitballing here?

 

[Night.Ninja]

What's going on

 

[ManaByte]

What's going on

Delusion

 

[Relativ9]

Netflix is very popular...

 

[Bridges]

Why would anyone pay more for the version without the disc drive. I just can't fathom that, and it'd more likely for them to take a loss on the DE to get a higher kick back from digital sales

 

[Stuart360]

Why would the version with the disk drive be cheaper?

 

[THE DUCK]

Also I love the way you made it sound like PS5 has been officially announced for $399 despite nothing even close to happening.

 

[megreotsugua]

Why would the version with the disk drive be cheaper?

Cheaper or same price. It's in the OP.

Either by:

1. Equipping the Digital Edition with double the SSD capacity and selling at $499 or $549.
2. BOTH versions at $399 or $449. Digital Edition comes with Knack 3 pack-in. (to make up for the lack of disc drive)

 

[MarkMe2525]

Look.. you are not wrong when it comes to retailer perception but Sony would be leaving a lot of money on the table if they priced the DE to sell more than the disc version. They will make a ton of extra money by selling games directly to consumer.

 

[SoloKingRobert]

You do realise Sony can't sell PS5 Digital Edition at $399 otherwise they'll be bleeding huge amount of money for each console sold.

 

[megreotsugua]

Also I love the way you made it sound like PS5 has been officially announced for $399 despite nothing even close to happening.

It's wishful thinking. We all do it here.

Edit: I added $449 to make it easier to swallow.

 

[Trogdor1123]

Pretty sure they already confirmed that the only difference between them is a drive. SsD is the same.

 

[Stuart360]

With the way game stores are contunually on the death bed, its probably wise to get used to digital sooner rather than later.

 

[pasterpl]

It doesn’t make sense

 

[BeardGawd]

I get what you're trying to say but the mere existence of the All Digital PS5 nullifies your point. Both MS and Sony are ushering in the all digital future.

 

[Majima Everywhere System]

Fascinating twist, good ideas all around, but Sony were the Bluray company. Can they realistically not lead with a disk drive version?

It does make sense that physical=the cheap asses. If they can pivot and make physical less available, they come out ahead.

I did think Sony was walking into a trap of making a bunch of PS5s no one wanted, but storage trumps everything else in Apple town. Without the disc drive, the crazy price hike for 2 tb is balanced out.

 

[Gp1]

350 without bd
450 with bd

And this will be the last nail on ms Xbox.

 

[a multicultural team of v]

The entire business case from Sony's perspective on the digital version is that they are guaranteed to make money off of every single game you purchase. With the disc version you could buy 1000 used games and Sony would see zero dollars. With the digital version even if you buy a $.99 game Sony will get money.

If anything it would allow them to eat some costs and make the digital version even cheaper because they know they will be recouped. Edit: not that this has really happened with other digital consoles, but in theory.

 

[Fbh]

The disk less version will definitely be cheaper.
Sony doesn't want you to share or resell your Ps5 games. They want you to buy everything on PSN which kills the second hand market and gives them a nice 30% cut of everything you buy.

 

[Max_Po]

disc version for 399 ? rofl ... keep dreaming.

 

[Blond]

You do realise Sony can't sell PS5 Digital Edition at $399 otherwise they'll be bleeding huge amount of money for each console sold.

The console only cost around 450 to make, disc drive included.

Report: Sony struggling with PS5 costs, price point uncertain

Bloomberg says the system currently costs $450 to make

www.google.com

But just to reiterate something I said in another thread: There's already an nvme ssd that beats it in speed that's going to be released so that could definitely help start bringing cost down, but considering that both the X1 and PS4 began being profitable a few months after launch, something unheard for a console generation (you usually hear a console being profitable after 2 years, if ever), that it's really a judgement call if they want to release it at a loss or not.

TBH as long as COVID is a thing I'm just going all digital because it just makes sense considering I live with high risk people and often even if I want a physical version it takes ages for it to come in stock for my area.


I'm hopeful of a 399 disc version sold at a loss, but I'm not expecting it too especially with news of the mechanics of the controller easily being a 70 dollar MSRP with all the things inside of it, maybe even 80.

And they did say the price point would be "appealing" but that's all speculation.

 

[JLB]

"It will shape the narrative that you can share games as usual on PS5."

In this digital focused 2020 not so many people worry about that, for good or bad. I dont think either Sony or Microsoft or Nintendo particularly care about this.

 

[yurinka]

Normal PS5 won't be cheaper than $499. I highly doubt PS5DE can be cheaper than $449.

The console only cost around 450 to make, disc drive included.

You need to add shipment, retailer and shop cuts, taxes, packaging and so on on top of that. The cost of a PS5 with everything included can't be that low. It has Zen 2, RDNA2, 16GB of RAM, wifi6, the best SSD solution in the market and a state of the art Bluetooth 5.1 gamepad with all sorts of possible features.

I'm pretty sure that to sell the normal PS5 at $499

 

[megreotsugua]

The entire business case from Sony's perspective on the digital version is that they are guaranteed to make money off of every single game you purchase. With the disc version you could buy 1000 used games and Sony would see zero dollars. With the digital version even if you buy a $.99 game Sony will get money.

If anything it would allow them to eat some costs and make the digital version even cheaper because they know they will be recouped. Edit: not that this has really happened with other digital consoles, but in theory.

Sales from online store has been growing. It will continue to grow whether Sony promotes a disc-less machine or not. Sony could let it grow organically while still allowing physical game store to thrive as a gateway to casual gamers.

 

[megreotsugua]

"It will shape the narrative that you can share games as usual on PS5."

In this digital focused 2020 no so many people worry about that, for good or bad. I dont think either Sony or Microsoft or Nintendo particularly care about this.

You're maybe right. But have you considered that you and I frequent forums a lot and might have a different point of view from casual gamers? Local game retailers are big advertising agents for gaming and Sony might want for them to continue to thrive to better reach casual gamers.

 

[splattered]

I'm more wondering now if the ps5 digital edition will be the same price but come with a year of PSNow subscription?

 

[JLB]

You're maybe right. But have you considered that you and I frequent forums a lot and might have a different point of view from casual gamers? Local game retailers are big advertising agents for gaming and Sony might want for them to continue to thrive to better reach casual gamers.

Throw a subscription with 100+ games to casuals and they will bite. Netflix is proof of that.

 

[Aladin]

From what i have come to understand, a xbox gamer spends more $$$ than a playstation gamer. Playstation brand is more biased towards poorer economic regions like South America, Middle East, Eastern Europe and Asia. They were definitely targetting 499$ from the beginning.

Quoting myself, Digital Edition being expensive than standard version is out of question. Countries where Playstation brand is strong tend to be poorer. It wont look good value wise.

 

[Stuart360]

Dat mod thread title edit tho

 

[THE DUCK]

I have to say, if PS5 ends up $399, the series S has to drop to $249, and I think the X to $399 as well........ just think it's very unlikely! Sony, prove me wrong!

 

[Xenon]

Im so confused...

 

[Blond]

Normal PS5 won't be cheaper than $499. I highly doubt PS5DE can be cheaper than $449.

You need to add shipment, retailer and shop cuts, taxes, packaging and so on on top of that. The cost of a PS5 with everything included can't be that low. It has Zen 2, RDNA2, 16GB of RAM, wifi6, the best SSD solution in the market and a state of the art Bluetooth 5.1 gamepad with all sorts of possible features.

Yeah I added more details for explanation. But it really all depends on how they want to approach this because they've been mentioning for over a year now the price would be "appealing" so maybe 450? Who knows.

 

[iconmaster]

Dat mod thread title edit tho

Definitely appreciated.

 

[RoadHazard]

Obviously the reason the DE even exists is to have a cheaper option. And also because Sony makes more money on digital sales, and lock you into their ecosystem in a way physical games don't. Both are strong arguments against this silly idea.

 

[DeepEnigma]

Now that's a thread title.

 

[Texas Pride]

The ONLY way they get away with charging more for a digital only edition PS5 is if that digital edition has at least double the hard drive capacity.

 

[LavitzSlambert]

If you haven’t noticed, Sony is already taking control of preorders and deliveries. What would make you think they feel the need to woo retailers when they are blatantly making a big move toward primarily digital distribution? The whole industry is headed this way in hopes of reducing costs.

Game companies need retailers to distribute software and hardware. Game specific retailers are in bad shape and it’s not getting any better. Physical retail stores have been devastated by COVID which has accelerated the ongoing trend of moving to online shopping. For the younger crowd, this is the only world they’ve ever known.

It’s impractical for Sony to sell all its software directly. But what happens when the majority of software is sold digitally? Accessories are marked up a lot more and third party ones are much more difficult to make as the components like controllers become more complicated. Sony only needs to be able to sell its consoles directly. Consoles and games are relatively low margin products and i don’t think retailers will miss them.

I don’t see Sony making this move. The only exception would be if they throw in a 2TB SSD with the digital version and hamstring the physical edition with low storage, but I just don’t see Sony taking that approach.

 

[truth411]

You do realise Sony can't sell PS5 Digital Edition at $399 otherwise they'll be bleeding huge amount of money for each console sold.

This is completely False, they make far more money in digital sales. The DE means your completely locked in the PS Store for content which sony would probably be in the black once a player buy just 2 or 3 AAA game since we know the PS5 DE BOM is about $470 minus the Blueray Drive. Not too mention again your locked into the PS Store for the rest of the generation. The DE will be faaaaar more profitable long term than the physical, heck you cant even borrow or play used games. Thats a big deal and rakes in money.

 

[megreotsugua]

The ONLY way they get away with charging more for a digital only edition PS5 is if that digital edition has at least double the hard drive capacity.

I don’t see Sony making this move. The only exception would be if they throw in a 2TB SSD with the digital version and hamstring the physical edition with low storage, but I just don’t see Sony taking that approach.

It's in the OP.

1. Equipping the Digital Edition with double the SSD capacity and selling at $499 or $549.
2. BOTH versions at $399 or $449. Digital Edition comes with Knack 3 pack-in. (to make up for the lack of disc drive)

 

[Manwithoutfear]

what are you smoking

 

[Texas Pride]

It's in the OP.

It's a foolish premise to begin with so I didn't read the OP I skipped to the end to give my opinion. Be lucky you got me to do that. More expensive digital edition isn't happening.

 

[EverydayBeast]

The market encourages lower prices

 

[Bryank75]

As a young boy, I dreamed of being a baseball; but tonight I say, we must move forward, not backward; upward, not forward; and always twirling, twirling, twirling towards freedom! (Just like a bluray disc)