Sony just recently revealed the price of the highly anticipated PlayStation 5, and it turns out that the digital edition is actually quite the catch in terms of price at $399.99 USD, while the standard edition that includes the Ultra HD Blu-Ray Disc Drive will retail for $499.99 USD.
PlayStation Chief Operating Officer Jim Ryan has already stated that they are doing the best they can to predict demand for the PlayStation 5 — be it the digital or standard edition — and also revealing that they are actually expecting the PlayStation 5 Digital Edition to sell better because of its price.
Interestingly enough, Japanese analyst Rakuten Securities has got some predictions of their own, as first reported by Bloomberg's Takashi Mochizuki, and it seems that they see Sony's next-gen console becoming the best-selling PlayStation yet. Shout outs to the people over at Comicbook for pointing us in the right direction.
According to the information shared by Rakuten Securities, the PlayStation 5 could end up selling over a very impressive 200 million units in its lifetime — which is actually quite the bold claim to make, but it seems like they do have their reasons to believe that this could be the case.
For one, the PlayStation 5's price is actually on par with the price that Microsoft set for the Xbox Series X — with both retailing for $499.99 USD — but the difference here is that Sony is also offering the all-digital version of the console for $399.99 USD.
Microsoft has also offered cheaper alternative with the Xbox Series S, but this device is actually considered to be a low-end version of their next-gen console. As such, it doesn't include all of the features present in the Xbox Series X; thus not really giving players the same experience.
The fact that both editions of the PlayStation 5 will give players the very same video gaming experience, does give Sony the upperhand, and analysts may have factored this in when predicting the PlayStation 5's lifetime sales.
PlayStation 5 selling over 200 millions in its lifetime is possible, albeit unlikely, and a prediction like that one made this early on — when neither the PlayStation 5 nor the Xbox Series X have already released — is rather bold and naively optimistic.
To further illustrate, Sony announced last month that the PlayStation 4 has already managed to sell 112 million units since its original launch in November of 2013, and it has taken them almost 7 years to get there. Let's assume that the PlayStation 5's life cycle will also be around 7 to 8 years; Sony would have to sell twice as many consoles in order to sell 200 million units — which is, again, possible but unlikely.
PlayStation 5 is expected to launch on Thursday the 12th of November in the United States, Japan, Canada, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, and South Korea; worldwide release on Thursday the 19th of November.