While PS5 pre-orders have begun the world over, there’s been no information as to when India pre-orders for Sony’s next console will start. The Mako Reactor reached out to Sony for comment this morning and we have not received any reply from the company. Due to the silence from Sony we decided to check with all six retailers that have the PS5 listed.
“We have no information from the supplier on release date or price,” says a customer care executive for Croma. Amazon India and Flipkart’s support staff gave us a similar response. A quick check with retailers that have stores in our vicinity such as Games The Shop and Reliance Digital yielded the same reply. Calls to multiple Sony Centers have resulted in us hearing of an October first week pre-order window which seems odd given no other stores have any clarity at this juncture. That said, we expect an India price of Rs. 40,000 to Rs. 45,000 for the PS5 Digital Edition and Rs. 50,000 to Rs. 55,000 for PS5 with a disc drive.
From this it’s safe to assume that Sony has not yet let its retail partners in India know of the PS5 price or release date — two crucial components for pre-orders to happen. Nonetheless, it’s as if the Indian division of the company was unaware of the big PS5 reveal hours prior. And it gets worse.
Several independent retailers speaking to The Mako Reactor on condition of anonymity fearing retribution have stated that Sony India has been avoiding queries regarding PS5 console availability even before the PS5 Showcase, preferring to focus on the PS4, its games, and accessories. This has led some to consider other options.
“We’ve been getting customer enquiries for the PS5 since June,” says one Delhi-based independent store owner. “If Sony isn’t going to supply us with stock, we’ll most likely have to import.”
”Sony has been asking us since August how many PS5 games we can sell,” says a buyer for a Bengaluru store. “We made it clear that unless there’s console availability, it’s pointless. Customers aren’t stupid, they’ll just buy it in grey or via parallel imports.”
Throw in the fact that a mere six retailers would be stocking the PS5 at launch, whenever that would be, and it’s pretty obvious that the PS5 will be in limited supply for India as well. It’s not just the majority of retailers that have not been kept in the loop. Prospective PS5 owners are also up in arms.
”I was awake all night to pre-order it,” says Adith from Tamil Nadu. “I checked with Shop At SC, even they have no idea. When pre-orders go live worldwide, they kick India out.”
His ire is warranted. After all, PlayStation boss Jim Ryan did say back in May that the company had planned for a global PS5 launch which would imply India as well. Before the PS5 Showcase, Sony stated consumers would get enough time to pre-order the PS5, this has not been the case even in countries where the console will be officially available.
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Although the PlayStation India website says November 19 PS5 release date, the lack of communication to its preferred retail partners is perplexing. All of this would suggest that the PS5 India release date may be delayed. This is in sharp contrast to game stores in other countries that we have spoken to. They claim Sony had informed them of the PS5 pre-order details, price, and release date two to three days before the PS5 Showcase.
So why is there no PS5 India price or release date yet? In lieu of no answers from Sony and its avoidance of sharing information with stores, we’d speculate that it’s either due to the company’s inability to deal with local certification processes like BIS or supply constraints. We’d wager that this is due to the company’s recent history.
With the PS4, BIS rules ensured that initial supply was inconsistent at best and the PS4 Pro had stock shortages for nearly a year since its India release date. Even right now, retailers are unable to get access to DualShock 4 controllers, let alone PS4 consoles to meet demand.
In fact, Sony can’t even make good on its current commitments. Take the Spider-Man PS4 Mega Pack bundle for example, stores were told stock would come in from August 16 but it only arrived four weeks later. It’s not just consoles either. The company’s track record on bringing its own games to market is equally horrific, to the point where it routinely hangs local game stores out to dry as we’ve seen with Spider-Man and God of War.
We won’t be surprised to see the company push PS4 hardware in India while the PS5 goes on sale internationally, a similar strategy employed during the PS4’s launch which saw Sony market the PS3 heavily in India. Perhaps the PS4 at sub-Rs. 20,000 price and an equally steep discount for the PS4 Pro may keep retail in check until PS5 supplies normalise.
However, in the eyes of its fans it’s pretty obvious that this PlayStation nation isn’t high on Sony’s priority list, a fact made even more amusing by Microsoft’s efforts to make the Xbox Series X and S worldwide release a reality. It’ll be interesting to see if this is a sign of things to come from both companies. For now though, if you want to buy a PS5 in India, you’ll have to wait. Not like you have much of a choice right now.
