Much like Microsoft, Sony has its eyes on a global launch for the PS5. In an interview with Cnet following Sony’s announcement of a PS5 games event, PlayStation boss Jim Ryan had this to say:
“We remain absolutely on track. We’re going to launch this holiday, we will have a global launch. And where we’re greatly looking forward to it. And we very much want the gaming world to look forward to it, too.”
While this would imply an India launch, sources in the supply chain speaking to The Mako Reactor have reached out stating that Sony India does indeed plan to have the console hit store shelves in time with the rest of the world. Just don’t expect the PS5 price to be cheap by any means.
“We wanted to list the PS5 on our social channels a few months ago,” says one Delhi-based retailer on the condition of anonymity. “No price has been given to us and we just wanted to do this so customers could tell us if they’re interested. However Sony India told us it would be on the expensive side when it hits and has asked us to focus on PS4 instead.”
That said, such online listings for the PS5 have gone live in countries like the UAE. Specialist game retailer Geekay has a PS5 page on its store letting consumers register their interest.
Considering that India falls under the EMEA region for Sony which includes the UAE as well, it’s perplexing why local retailers aren’t given the same leeway, assuming India gets the PS5 the same time as the rest of the world. Even the official PlayStation India website has a page up for the PS5 so perhaps its a matter of timing and focussing India’s game stores on it after The Last of Us Part 2 and Ghost of Tsushima.
This would be in line with what The Mako Reactor previously reported. While Sony has spoken to game stores in the country and is planning an India launch, sources speaking to us confirm that no dates have been set for a PS5 India launch though Sony has indicated that the price would be on the higher side. The company’s immediate focus seems to be obtaining as many pre-orders for its upcoming exclusives The Last of Us Part 2 and Ghost of Tsushima as possible.
Unlike the rest of the world which had clarity on what editions would be hitting store shelves in-line with Sony’s global reveals, Sony India appears to have staggered out what to expect. The Last of Us Part 2’s CE and SE only went up for pre-order in India in the last two weeks and a keychain pre-order bonus for “offline retail” only was just revealed.
Keep in mind that the PS4 saw a three month delay for India, arriving in January 2014 versus November 2013 internationally. BIS has been a hurdle for the company in the past and may be an issue this time around again. The Mako Reactor had reached out to Sony for comment prior to publishing and will update this story if we hear from the company.
