The PS5's price was just leaked by a gaming store, and it's so low that we can hardly believe it. If the leak holds true, then the Xbox Series X is in trouble.
Reported by Notebookcheck, Canadian retailer Play N Trade Vancouver Island opened preorders for the PS5 at CAD 559.99. That's roughly $396 USD or £318 after conversion. If we round up, and the PS5 comes in at $399, then it would be the same price as the PS4 when it first launched, which is ridiculous given all of the expensive tech inside the next-gen console.
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However, it's possible Play N Trade doesn't know the price yet, and the store is trying to put something up early to get more preorders. It will then swap the price out once Sony announces it. But if the price is legit, Sony is selling the PS5 at a loss, as we recently learned that the PS5 costs $450 to make.
With the Xbox Series X touting more powerful hardware, we doubt Microsoft would price-match Sony in this scenario. The same thing happened last generation when the Xbox One was $100 more expensive than the PS4.
Microsoft is still biding its time with the price reveal of the Xbox Series X, possibly indicating that the company wants to be competitive with the price of its console. But even if it's not as competitive as we hope, Xbox could launch a cheaper, less powerful console to match the PS5, if rumors hold true.
We'll find out more about the PS5 and Xbox Series X closer to launch, which should be in Holiday 2020. That is, if Sony and Microsoft are right about the coronavirus outbreak not affecting the console release dates.
