The release date for the slimmer and lighter mid-gen refresh of the PS5 has seemingly leaked online, alongside details about its first bundle. As per reliable tipster Billbil-kun — notorious for accurately leaking monthly PS Plus games ahead of time — the new PlayStation consoles with smaller form factor will go on sale November 10 in the US before spreading out to other regions; both disc and digital versions. A bit before that, on November 8, Sony would be bundling it with the newly launched Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 at $559.99, which is the same amount as the existing standard edition bundle. While not explicitly mentioned, the content should be the same, with a digital voucher for the game, alongside 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 dedicated design,’ which is probably in reference 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 is simply referring to the detachable disc drive or the entire console side plate. Sony unveiled the new PS5 Slim, last week, billed as being 30 percent smaller than the base PlayStation 5, in addition to shedding 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 streak of black. Just 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 shroud that keeps it safe from dust and debris, and can simply be slotted on. The PS5 slim disc edition is priced at $499.99 (about Rs. 41,555), just like the original. The PS5 slim Digital Edition costs $449.99 (about Rs. 37,400) — up from $399 — albeit one could always buy the Blu-ray drive separately and just slot it in. The drive is sold seprately for $79.99 (about Rs. 6,650). On the hardware front, both consoles stay the same in terms of processing power and graphics, but there’s a minor upgrade to the internal storage, jumping from an 825GB SSD to a 1TB SSD. It’s worth mentioning that once Sony manages to sell its whole inventory of launch edition PS5s, this new slimmer variant will be the only one available to buy.
The report further notes that several Japanese sellers, including the regional Amazon site, have opened pre-orders/ bookings for the PS5 slim, with the aforementioned November 10 date. As of July, the Sony has sold 40 million PS5 units worldwide, with the company allegedly expecting to surpass that with refreshed console sales. In India, the current-gen standard PS5 disc edition is listed at Rs. 54,990, while the Digital Edition comes in at Rs. 44,990. Both editions are now readily available across both online and brick-and-mortar stores. In fact, it appears that its sales are lagging in the country, which would explain the frequent discounts we’ve been seeing recently. Sony also plans to launch the PlayStation Portal handheld gaming device, later this year, which lets players seamlessly stream their games from their console onto the smaller screen via Wi-Fi.