Sony India will be training retailers on the PS5 and its features this week onwards according to multiple sources familiar with the company’s plans. While the PS5 does not have an India release date or pre-order details just yet, these are likely to change seeing that store staff across the country will be schooled on the console’s finer details. This makes sense when you consider that last week Sony India employees underwent PS5 training and the company has 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. We reached out to Sony for comment and will update this story if we hear from it.
This would also mean that the console has passed BIS certification. Earlier we reported that the PS5 doesn’t have an India release date yet and it’s possibly due to Sony submitting the console for BIS compliance — India’s mandatory certification process for electronics — on October 22, 2020, five days after revealing its price on October 17, 2020. This information was first made public by a Twitter account that tracks India release information regarding the PS5. The Mako Reactor has confirmed the veracity of these claims.
Prior to this, readers of The Mako Reactor were been told by Sony Centers — Sony’s own franchised stores, that they can expect PS5 pre-orders to go live before the end of December with the console launching mid-January. Some of them have been taking pre-order payments up front as well. Odd considering that Sony hasn’t allowed any store to start taking pre-orders yet.
We reached out to multiple Sony Centers across the country — Goa, Bengaluru, Delhi, and Raipur among others, and we were met with a similar response: a January release window with pre-orders before the end of December. According to the store managers we spoke to, Sony India has told them that these plans will be revealed officially soon.
PS5 India launch timeline
- May 29, 2020 – PlayStation boss Jim Ryan touts a global PS5 launch for 2020
- June 11, 2020 – Sony India reaches out to retail to gauge PS5 interest
- June 12, 2020 – India gets a Holiday 2020 PS5 release window
- June 16, 2020 – Sony confirms that no pre-orders for India are allowed just yet
- July 4, 2020 – PS5 pre-registration go live on sites like Amazon and Flipkart
- July 6, 2020 – NBA 2K21 India price confirms we will be paying more for PS5 games
- July 13, 2020 – Pre-registration is updated with sales forms asking which consoles Indians prefer
- July 18, 2020 – Internationally, Sony commits to a smooth pre-order process (which never happened)
- July 31, 2020 – Retail sources claim that the pre-order details for the PS5 would be uniform the world over (which they were)
- September 16, 2020 – The Mako Reactor compiled a list of stores that will have the PS5 for pre-order in India
- September 21, 2020 – A November 19, 2020 India PS5 release date was revealed which Sony confirmed was an error
- October 6, 2020 – Sony did not own the trade mark to the PS5 in India
- October 13, 2020 – Sony debunks Amazon India and Sony Centres claim of PS5 pre-orders going live in October
- October 15, 2020 – The official India PlayStation website listed a November 19 PS5 release date which was removed hours later
- October 17, 2020 – The PS5 trade mark for India appears to have reverted to Sony
- October 17, 2020 – Sony India finally reveals the PS5 prices for the country
- October 23, 2020 – PS5 games could be pre-ordered digitally in India
- October 25, 2020 – PS5 quantities would be limited at launch for India
- October 29, 2020 – The official India PlayStation website listed November 19 as the India PS5 release date again, it was removed soon after
- November 1, 2020 – The Mako Reactor was the first to report that India grey market PS5s would cost twice of what the MRP was and we explained why as well
- November 4, 2020 – Sony began cracking down on pre-orders for official PS5 units
- November 18, 2020 – Sony India isn’t the only party responsible for no India PS5 launch, the official India PlayStation website isn’t even updated here
- November 20, 2020 – PS5 launch partner Reliance Digital leaked names, email addresses, and phone numbers of prospective buyers
- November 27, 2020 – Reports of a January 2021 PS5 release date emerge, Sony claims otherwise
- December 14, 2020 – PS5 stock lands in the country, Sony employees undergo training for an impending launch
- December 15, 2020 – The consoles may not be available nationwide at launch
- December 19, 2020 – It was discovered Sony sent PS5 for BIS certification five days after revealing price
As you can see from the timeline above, this is one console launch that’s been exceptionally mismanaged even by Sony’s own standards for the country. Hopefully we see an India release date soon.
