Microsoft, amidst its ongoing battle with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), has potentially spilled the tea on its biggest rival’s console plans for 2023. The tech giant’s recent court document filings reveal that it believes Sony is gearing up for the reveal of a PS5 Slim “later this year” at a $400 price point. Here’s the company’s exact stance, pulled from its filings:
PlayStation likewise sells a less expensive Digital Edition for $399.99, and is expected to release a PlayStation 5 Slim later this year at the same reduced price point.
Slimming down for summer
Whether or not Microsoft’s information is accurate, we can’t be sure. It certainly didn’t offer any credible sources in its filings. But it does correspond to similar news we heard in September last year, which suggested Sony was focusing its efforts on a revised PS5 that would arrive with an attachable disc drive that could either be purchased as a bundle or separately at a later date. It seems likely that this is the PS5 Slim Microsoft is going on about.
Read More: PS5s are about to become a lot more expensive in South Africa
It’s not as though Microsoft is hurting its biggest competitor by revealing some big well-kept trade secret here. Anyone with a brain (and access to Wikipedia) could see that Sony likes routine, especially when it comes to the release of its consoles. It usually opts for a three-year gap between a console’s first generation and a slimmer, revised model – and it’s been that way since the PS3 days. Considering the PS5’s 2020 release date…
Sony’s got a Q
Potentially spoiling Sony’s grand reveal of a PS5 Slim wasn’t all that Microsoft had in mind when it filed its documents. Alongside the PS5 Slim ‘news’, it briefly mentioned Sony’s Project Q, specifically saying “Sony is also anticipated to release a handheld version of PlayStation 5 later this year for under $300.” Again, it’s worth taking Microsoft’s claims with a dash of salt, as it provides no fact or reason to back them up. We do, however, think a $300 price tag sounds about right for a Sony handheld.
Should Microsoft’s ‘predictions’ come to fruition, we could be seeing Sony’s next PlayStation 5 hit the shelves in September for $400, the same as the R10,500 price tag attached to the current Digital Edition of the PS5 in South Africa. As for when Sony might make it official, making the announcement at another State of Play would make the most sense. With Sony’s last big event taking place in April, an August or early September timeline seems likely.