According to a new report over at Bloomberg, Sony is planning to produce and make fewer PlayStation 5 consoles than it has in previous generations - during the launch window. This comes down to the ambitious and high-end specs of the hardware which will result in a premium price at launch, estimated to be either $499 USD ($780 AUD) or $549 USD ($860 AUD).

The report cites sources "close to the matter", with component cost increases slowly driving up the PlayStation 5 price to the point where Sony needs to breaks even. Then there's scarcity and production impacts due to the current COVID-19 pandemic. On that front work from home measures have apparently delayed approval for Sony's business plans for PlayStation in the coming year.


Where this gets interesting is that the sources are saying the Sony's plan is to use the PS4 as a bridging console while the PlayStation 5 remains in limited stock. Looking at the upcoming line-up of PS4 exclusives - Ghost of Tsushima and The Last of Us Part II (which is still without a release date) in particular - and you can see how this makes sense.

The flip-side to this is that Microsoft is already in next-gen mode with plans to position the Xbox Series X as this holiday's must-have pieces of hardware. It's plan to combat potential scarcity or high-pricing remains unclear, though all Xbox Series X titles from first-parties will be playable on Xbox One or even PC for the foreseeable future.

Strange times to be sure, and it looks like it will be a little while before we get full PlayStation 5 launch details.