While Sony India is yet to officially reveal a PS5 release date for the country, it appears that the company is preparing to launch it soon enough. Currently it’s deciding which stores in the country will receive the console and is training its staff on its functions, sources familiar with Sony’s plans tell us. Expect the current PS5 banners that have a 2020 release year present on most sites to change as well, we’ve been told. Furthermore, it appears that some PS5 stock has landed in India already with a tentative January 2021 release window.
For its part, Sony India has already commented on a possible PS5 January 2021 release date that’s been propagated by retailers since the end of November, telling us to stay tuned to its social media channels for a potential announcement. However with its employees undergoing PS5 training and plans to change its current PS5 messaging from late 2020, it seems that we may not have to wait too long for an actual PS5 release date according to those we have spoken to with knowledge of the company’s plans.
To make matters even more interesting, multiple readers of The Mako Reactor have reached out to us stating that retailers with close ties to Sony such as Delhi-based Kalra Electronics, have touted a January 2021 release window. The store made such claims to us as well, claiming Sony would announce a date “very soon”.
It appears that information on a January 2021 launch window may have been informally passed on by some Sony India employees without any official confirmation or permission from the company. Some retailers requested their Sony sales representatives to put this on email, which never happened.
”All we got is a verbal communication on it, nothing on email,” says one manager for a large format retailer on condition of anonymity. “I asked my Sony rep to put this on email and they weren’t willing to do so.”
At the same time, the company continues to crack down on stores taking advance payments towards PS5 pre-orders and what’s more is, it has plans to restrict or completely curtail supply of PS5 consoles to those selling grey units as well. While the former has been known for a while now, the latter is a new development.
What’s likely is, this is perhaps the company’s way of ensuring its meagre quantities are sent to stores that have been playing by its rules, its execution leaves a lot to be desired. This is because its own sales force has simply been telling those selling unofficial PS5 consoles to not put them up on display if they want to stock and sell official units rather than serve them any actual warning or notice.
So when can we expect the PS5 to be out? Well, if you believe one source whose recent video was essentially a greatest hits compilation of our reporting sans credit, Sony is primed for an end of January 2021 PS5 India launch. That said, this aforementioned source doesn’t have the greatest track record either.
With so many details yet to be known, why is there rampant speculation surrounding a PS5 January 2021 launch date for India? It is possible that Sony employees are fed up with the nation’s many PlayStation fans trying to get information on a release date and are letting retailers know informally to mitigate some of the pressure. Though the glaring lack of accompanying information such as pre-orders and even external factors not entirely in Sony’s control like third-party PS5 game pricing and availability, suggest that the company isn’t ready to reveal when you can buy a PS5 officially just yet.
