The biggest question of all? How much will the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X cost around the world, but more importantly for us, how much will they cost in Australia?
It’s no secret that the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X are both likely to cost more than the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One did at launch. They’re both using more advanced technology (than those consoles were at the time at launch) and the components that they’re using have gone up in price since then. Here in Australia specifically, the exchange rate is also worse than it was in 2013/2014.
Friend of the site, @ConsumeProgeny has put together an incredible graph showcasing the fluctuating launch prices for consoles in Australia ranging from the NES all the way to the Nintendo Switch and current gen of consoles, and then also created another graph for those console launch prices with adjustments for inflation.
It shows that whilst the NES launched at $250 when it came out, that’d equate to roughly $750 if it were to release today. Similarly, the PS3 would be up above the $1300 mark (it released at $999 AUD here), whilst the PS4 would be somewhere around the $600 mark if it launched today. The original Xbox would be somewhere around the $1,000 mark.
Obviously, we don’t know what the next-gen consoles will launch at, but it’s likely that they’ll both be above this $600 mark in Australia. If I were a betting man, I’d put them within $50-100 of eachother at around the $700 mark, but it’s no secret that neither Sony or Microsoft want to announce their pricing first, and I suggest it’ll be a little bit longer before we hear either price point.
Speaking specifically about tomorrow’s PS5 event, I wouldn’t expect to see a price reveal. It’ll be about the games, and Sony will want to save that news for later. It’s going to be an interesting few months.