(Bloomberg) — Sony Corp. unveiled the PlayStation 5 game console and an array of new games from the virtual stage Thursday, showcasing for the first time what its next-generation software will look like ahead of a holiday season showdown against Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox.
A new Spider-Man game will be ready for the holidays, alongside the release of the black-and-white home console. Sony will also have a new Gran Turismo racing game, as well as an enhanced version of Take-Two Interactive Software Inc.’s bestselling Grand Theft Auto V for the PlayStation 5 next year.
Sony will sell a version of the console without a disc drive, a move that could hasten the transition to digital downloads and cut out retailers like Amazon.com Inc., GameStop Corp. and Walmart Inc. Sony showed an array of new games from various high-profile franchises, including Resident Evil 8, a remake of the action game Demon’s Souls and a sequel to the popular PlayStation 4 game Horizon Zero Dawn.
Expectations are high for the PlayStation 5. Sony’s current system has dominated the video game market for the last seven years, selling more than 110 million units and overshadowing Microsoft’s efforts with the Xbox. Both companies began talking publicly about their next generation of consoles last year. Sony disclosed the first details of the PlayStation 5 in interviews with Wired magazine, promising technical improvements that would enable sharper graphics, larger game worlds and reduced load times.
The coronavirus pandemic has complicated what is normally a carefully choreographed process for introducing a new game system. Sony had planned to deliver a lecture on the PlayStation 5’s technical capabilities during the Game Developers Conference in March. When that event was called off, the Japanese hardware maker instead streamed an hour-long video presentation hosted by the PlayStation’s lead architect, Mark Cerny.
The Electronic Entertainment Expo is typically the premier launch event for the biggest game releases. The conference, known as E3, had been set to take place this week in Los Angeles but was canceled due to the virus. Sony had not planned to participate at E3 but arranged a live streaming event on June 4. That was postponed a week in the wake of the protests over racial injustice that erupted around the world.
On Thursday, Sony introduced several games from independent or smaller developers, in addition to big-budget titles. Highlights included Bugsnax, a cartoon game set on an island full of talking fruits and animals, and an adventure game called Kena: Bridge of Spirits. The new version of Grand Theft Auto Online will be free exclusively to PlayStation 5 owners for three months, said Take-Two, the game’s publisher. It debuts in the second half of 2021.
The wide variety of games on display could help broaden the PlayStation 5’s appeal and attract younger audiences like those typically captured by Nintendo Co. “Sony showed us a lot of cartoony games, a shift from the PS4 launch when the reveal was dominated by photorealistic games,” said Hideki Yasuda, an analyst at Ace Research Institute.
Sony will face off against Microsoft this holiday season when they each plan to release new consoles. Sony has been struggling to keep costs down for the PlayStation 5, but it hasn’t yet said what the new product will sell for. Partly due to a high initial price tag, Sony is limiting production of the console for the launch, people familiar with the matter have said.
Piers Harding-Rolls, an analyst at Ampere Analysis, anticipates the new consoles will sell for $450 to $499. “Higher pricing is actually predicted to have a minimal impact on adoption at launch,” he said. “Within a certain range—less than $500—price is not a major factor.” Sony will likely be able to reduce the price of the model without the Blu-ray disc capability, said Serkan Toto, a game consultant who runs a company called Kantan Games Inc.
(Updates with additional news in the seventh paragraph.)
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