When will we have release news for the PS5 and Xbox Series X?

We’re now half-way into 2020, and we know that two new consoles – PS5 and Xbox Series X – are imminent. Of those two consoles, the PS5 is confirmed to be launching with two distinct SKUs, one with a disc drive and one without, while rumours continue to abound that we’ll also get a Xbox Series S, costing as little as half what the Series X will retail at. We know what both consoles will look like, what sort of performance they’ll be delivering, and what internals they’ll have, including the all-important teraflops.

However, we still don’t know two pieces of critical information, information that will help millions across the globe ultimately decide which of the next gen consoles they’ll be picking up; release dates, and release prices.

Speculation around both has been rife. Both consoles are slated to release in ‘Holiday 2020’, and despite the on-going international health crisis, both Sony and Microsoft have continued to reveal details about the consoles and appear confident of a full launch. We’re just not sure exactly when.

‘Holiday’ typically refers to Q4 of the calendar year – e.g. October through to the end of December. Both manufacturers will want to give their consoles a few weeks grace before Black Friday kicks off the pre-Christmas buying period. We expect, based on previous consoles, that we’ll see both consoles launch at the beginning of November.

Price is much more tricky to pin down. Though we know the likely raw costs of the internals present in the consoles, what is completely unknown is how much of a financial hit either Microsoft or Sony will be willing to take to get their new consoles off the shelves and into your home. Microsoft, in particular, were placed on the back foot as soon as the Xbox One originally launched, as it cost far more than the PS4. They’ll be especially keen to make up ground, and wary of the impact that going in at a higher price point might have.

So when we might finally get these crucial pieces of information? Well, we each manufacturer will announce the release date and release price together, in order to enable retailers to get pre-orders live. In the case of the PS4, the price was announced at E3 in June 2013, the release date in August at Gamescom, and the console itself launched in November. The Xbox One released mid-November, after both the release date and price were announced at E3 in June.

Based on this timeline, we’re now overdue the release prices for both consoles. We expect that by early August, we will have both the release dates and release prices for both consoles. Fingers crossed!