Three years into the PlayStation 5’s existence, Sony is now absolutely sure customers are going to have no issues getting their hands on the company’s console.
“We’re in full supply, and we’re thrilled about that.” PlayStation VP of global marketing Eric Lempel said in an interview with Barron’s Thursday,
Back when the console launched in 2020, it was during a worldwide chip shortage that caused havoc for those trying to procure Sony’s latest PlayStation console. Add to that the impact of scalper bots gobbling up supply to sell at inflated prices, and the first few holidays for the PS5 were a total mess. Sony previously claimed the shortage was done for 2023, though this is the company’s real chance to prove it.
“The reality was it took some time for us to catch up, like everybody else in the world, with some of the component shortages coming out of covid,” Lempel said. Now the exec says the company is expecting “one of the strongest seasons in our history in terms of console sales.”
Sony can thank the developers at Insomniac because Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is turning into a runaway success. It’s the first major first-party title to be released solely on the PS5, and it sold 2.5 million copies on opening day alone. Sony proclaimed earlier this year it had sold 40 million consoles so far, which makes today’s Spider-Man sales all that more significant.
Add to that Sony is releasing a new, slimmer version of the PS5 this holiday season. Though few folks have managed to get their hands on it, some have taken the dimensions of the new console and made a 3D model of it. Based purely on these renders, the new PS5 is significantly smaller than the earlier version in both width and height. The disc-based version costs $US500, the same as the earlier version, though the Digital Edition is now $US450. You can buy the disc drive separately for $US80, but leaked product images have shown there’s an annoying bit of DRM attached to the disc drive.
Sony seems to be leaving off a few big peripherals from its expectations. This year, Sony unveiled the PSVR 2, a powerful though landlocked VR headset specifically for the company’s mainline console. At $US500, it costs as much as a PS5 by itself. Lempel said VR is simply “not the core proposition we have this season,” meaning the company doesn’t expect its headset to do gangbusters this holiday season. While VR helps the company with “innovation,” it’s “never going to be the only way people play games.”