Sale of the PlayStation 5, in Osaka, Japan on November 12, 2020. -
Kenichi Unaki / AP / SIPA
A few weeks before Christmas, the console war is launched.
The battle between Sony and Microsoft entered its decisive phase this Thursday with the launch by the Japanese of its new PlayStation 5, two days after the release of the Xbox Series of its American rival.
Unlike Microsoft, which had bet on a single global launch, Sony will put its console on sale in two stages: Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, the United States, Canada and Mexico being served from this Thursday, when the rest of the world, and in particular Europe, will have to wait until November 19.
Pandemic requires, purchases will be made mainly online.
Demand promises to be strong, and the copies available for pre-order were sold out in record time.
Analysts believe that it will be very difficult to get a new console before 2021.
Two prices, two versions
Like its competitor, the PlayStation 5 will be available in two versions: a "premium" which Sony has aligned the price with the Xbox Series X, at 499 dollars, and a "digital edition" as powerful but devoid of disk drive, at 399 dollars. dollars, 100 more than the Xbox Series S. The Japanese group, whose video games represent about a third of sales, will try to repeat with this generation of consoles, the ninth in the history of video games, its performance of the PlayStation 4, released in 2013, which sold twice as much as the Xbox One globally.
According to most analysts, Sony should still overtake its American competitor in the number of consoles sold.
However, in the long term, Microsoft could catch up on its great rival thanks to its strategy more focused on subscription and streaming gaming.
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