The release date for the PS5’s slimmer and lighter mid-gen refresh has seemingly leaked online, alongside details about the first bundle. According to reliable tipster Billbil-kun – infamous for meticulously leaking monthly PS Plus games in advance – the new smaller form factor PlayStation consoles will go on sale in the US on November 10 before spreading to other regions; both disc and digital versions. A little before that, on November 8, Sony would bundle it with the newly launched Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 for $559.99, which is the same amount as the existing Standard Edition bundle. Although not explicitly stated, the content should be the same, with a digital voucher for the game and a themed controller.
Billbil-kun’s report – machine translated from French – claims that the Spider-Man 2 bundle will only include the disc version of the PS5 Slim ‘without special design’, which likely refers to the special edition red and black PS5 where it appears as if the console is being consumed by Venom’s black symbiote. That said, it’s unclear whether he’s simply referring to the removable disc drive or the entire side plate of the console. Sony unveiled the new PS5 Slim last week, which was expected to be 30 percent smaller than the base PlayStation 5, as well as losing 18 and 24 percent weight, depending on the versions. It will be available next month and features a glossy top half and a matte bottom, separated by a black stripe. Like the original launch, it will be available in two versions: Digital Edition and one equipped with a detachable Ultra HD Blu-ray disc drive.
The drive also comes with a white plastic case that protects it from dust and dirt, and can be easily placed on top. The PS5 Slim Disc Edition will cost $499.99 (approximately Rs. 41,555), just like the original. The PS5 Slim Digital Edition costs $449.99 (approximately Rs. 37,400) – up from $399 – although you can always buy the Blu-ray drive separately and just plug it in. The drive is sold separately for $79.99 (approximately Rs. 6,650). Hardware-wise, both consoles remain the same in terms of processing power and graphics, but there’s a small upgrade to the internal storage, from an 825GB SSD to a 1TB SSD. It’s worth noting that once Sony manages to sell off its entire stock of launch edition PS5s, this new, sleeker variant will be the only one available to buy.
The report further notes that several Japanese retailers, including the regional Amazon site, have opened pre-orders/bookings for the PS5 slim, with the aforementioned date of November 10. Since July, Sony has sold 40 million PS5 units worldwide, and the company expects to surpass that with renewed console sales. In India, the current-gen standard PS5 Disc Edition is listed at Rs. 54,990, while the digital edition costs Rs. 44,990. Both editions are now readily available in both online and physical stores. In fact, it seems like sales are lagging in the country, which would explain the frequent discounts we’ve been seeing lately. Sony also plans to launch the PlayStation Portal portable gaming device later this year, which will allow players to seamlessly stream their games from their console to the smaller screen via Wi-Fi.
