During the PS5 Showcase last week, Sony stated the PS5 release date would be November 12 in US, Canada, Japan, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, and South Korea. The rest of the world gets it on November 19. Though Sony has stated that “availability in each region subject to local import regulations”. However if you’re in India, you may be in for a wait. In an email to The Mako Reactor, Sony has confirmed that there is no PS5 India release date just yet.
”The launch date has been erroneously communicated as November 19, 2020 whereas it is officially yet to be confirmed,” says a spokesperson for Sony over email. “We will keep you posted once the launch timing is announced.”
It’s great that the company has finally addressed this. Over the weekend speculation was rife over a November 19 PS5 release date following Sony customer support staff saying so to prospective customers.
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.
“We have no information from the supplier on release date or price,” said a customer care executive for Croma. Amazon India and Flipkart’s support staff gave us a similar response a day after the PS5 Showcase regarding PS5 India pre-orders.
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.
PS5 India release date delayed by BIS?
While Sony is yet to reveal if India gets the PS5 the same time as the rest of the world, its track record here has been abysmal. 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. 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.
PS5 India launch availability: will all stores have it?
Given that only six stores have the PS5 listed, it’s safe to say that Sony has a preferred partners list and they’re on it. No independent retailers appear to have any PS5 listings at the moment. It will be interesting to see if more stores stock the PS5 at launch in India. While we have asked Sony if it would be exclusive to these outlets, there’s been no reply to our request for comment just yet. With supplies expected to be limited, we don’t expect most Indian game stores to stock the PS5 officially at launch in the country.
