PS5 showcase event: Start time, how to stream online and what to expect

Sony has told us nearly everything conceivable about its next-generation video game console, the PlayStation 5. We know its launch games lineup, including the highly anticipated superhero sequel Spider-Man: Miles Morales. We know the devices have a futuristic vibe to them, with curved sides that could look right at home next to a Star Trek starship. We even know the controller has special trigger buttons that give us feedback to make the objects we interact with in the game world feel like they’re here, in our hands.

The only things we don’t know are what it will cost and when it will hit store shelves. 

Until now. The company announced on Wednesday it’ll charge $400 (£360) for its “digital edition” without a disc drive, and $500 (£450) for its version with one. Sony’s said both consoles are otherwise have the same chips and other hardware inside. The device will launch Nov. 12 in the US, Japan, Canada, Mexico, Australia (though didn’t give a price), New Zealand and South Korea, and Nov. 19 in the rest of the world. Preorders will start Thursday.

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Sony began its event discussing high profile games Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales and Final Fantasy XVI, both of which will be exclusive to the PlayStation. Spider-Man will launch with the console in time for the 2020 holiday shopping season, while Sony didn’t say when Final Fantasy XVI will launch. 

The company also showed off Resident Evil Village, the eighth installment in the popular horror franchise, and teased a new sequel to its hit 2018 action adventure game God of War.

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Now with the release date and price announced, both Sony and Microsoft’s upcoming consoles mark a key moment for the video game industry, transitioning to new devices that promise faster chips and new features to make games all that much more complex or realistic looking.

Somehow, Sony and Microsoft have made it comically long into their preparations for their dueling next-gen consoles without telling us fundamentals like price and release date. At the beginning of the year, all we knew was that the devices would launch by the holiday shopping season.

The missing information became sort of an inside joke whenever I’d talk with Sony and Microsoft’s teams. I’d work the question in as often as I could, reminding them I have to ask — and them acknowledging that of course I’d ask. PlayStation head Jim Ryan and Xbox head Phil Spencer got the question too. 

The lack of information became a meme within the game community, where rumors sprouted that Microsoft and Sony were playing a game of chicken, seeing who’d blink first and announce their price at risk of the other adjusting their price to beat it. For what it’s worth, both companies repeatedly denied that.

But after a series of leaks about Microsoft’s entry-level Xbox Series S that’ll launch alongside its more powerful Xbox Series X, the company said they’d cost $299.99 and $499.99, respectively, and launch Nov. 10. They’ll also be available on a payment plan of $25 per month and $35 per month, including access to a bundle of the company’s gaming social network and other subscription services.

To take on Microsoft more directly, Sony also announced its PlayStation Plus Collection, a library of hit PS4 games such as God of War and Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End. The games will be made available to subscribers to its $9.99 per month PlayStation Plus gaming service. 

Microsoft’s $9.99 per month Xbox Games Pass service has often been called “the best deal in gaming,” for offering more than 100 games. Now Sony clearly wants to take that on. Sony didn’t offer a direct competitor to Microsoft’s $14.99 per month Xbox Games Pass Ultimate subscription, which offers access to many of the games in its library on console and PC, as well as the ability to stream many of those titles too.

What Sony showed

Final Fantasy 16, no launch date announced.

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Spider-Man: Miles Morales, coming holiday 2020.

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Hogwarts Legacy, coming 2021.

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, coming holiday 2020.

Resident Evil 8: Village, coming 2021.

Deathloop, coming 2021.

Devil May Cry 5: Special Edition

Oddworld: Soulstorm, coming holiday 2020.

Five Nights at Freddy’s: Security Breach, no launch date.

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Demon’s Souls, no launch date.

Fortnite, available at launch.

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PlayStation Plus Collection, coming holiday 2020.

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Correction: Jim Ryan is the head of Sony’s PlayStation division. Jack Ryan is a fictional spy for the CIA. An earlier version of this story mixed the two men’s names.