“More PlayStation 5 in stores” and no more crazy prices: Sony’s promise for 2023

Marco Saletta joined Sony in 2010 as Sales Directora couple of years later he became general manager of Sony Interactive Entertainment Italy and now holds the same role, but for all of Southern Europe (ie Italy, France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Spain, Portugal and Greece).

Saletta, who is from Rome, is also a gamer, which is obvious given the work he does: “My favorite games are undoubtedly Uncharted 4the last one God of Warone of the few that I found time to finishand the first Prince of Persia. Of course, being a football fan, I’ve played more or less all versions of Fifa”, he told us when we interviewed him.

No more crazy prices for the PS5

We didn’t meet him to talk about this, but above all to discuss with him a problem that the PlayStation 5 has. And that it has always had: the console is simply not found.

It was not located at Christmas 2021 and it was hard to Christmas 2022if not at disproportionate costs, around 800-1000 euros, and Sony knows it well: “Since the beginning, we have had a very high demand all over the world”, which has evidently exceeded supply, also thanks to an unfavorable contingent situation, between chip crisis and raw material price hikes. And yet, this situation seems destined to change: “Starting from the months of February and March, all countries, throughout the world, will have new stocks of PS5s adapted to the demand of that country – Saletta explained to us – In some Italian shops the restocking has already been done and the console is already available on the shelf”. At its price, which is what matters most and with all due respect to scalpers and speculators various, that is 449.99 euros for the Digital Edition, 549.99 for the version with disc player and 629.99 for the one bundled with some games.

Here i important points are two:

• contrary to what was thought at the end of 2022these new supplies do not only concern the Asian markets but are intended for everyone;

• in the console nothing changes, it is not different insidethere are no new components, Sony has not found any new suppliers.

The arrival of the is not even expected elusive Slim version, at least not in the short term: “A new version of the console is not planned at the moment”, Saletta confirmed to us. How did they do it then? From what we have managed to get told, “production has been reorganized according to demand” and also “world economic conditions are better”, therefore it is probably possible produce faster than before albeit in the same way as before. Evidently also by better distributing the quantities in the various parts of the world.

The 2023 of PlayStation 5 and the arrival of VR2

However, how we got there matters little, what matters is that it is a significant goal that arrives at a significant moment: traditionally, the third and fourth year of life are the fundamental ones for a console, those where the hardware is put to the best use and where the best games come. So what will 2023 be for the PS5? “It will be in the name of innovation that we have already traced at the time of the debut – Saletta told us – Right from the start they were available strong titles like Gran Turismo 7 it is the first Horizonlast year came the new God of Warthis year will be the turn of Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 (in autumn, ed.), Forspoken and a new one Final Fantasy”.

And of course 2023 is the year of the DualSense Edge, the controller designed for professionals (proof) he was born in VR2, the new virtual reality viewer. The company has contested Bloomberg’s rumors about a possible halving of production due to orders well below expectations, explaining that “we have not reduced the production of PlayStation VR2” and indeed to have noticed “the enthusiasm of the fans for the upcoming debut”. For his part, Saletta explained to us that there will be “sufficient stock to meet demand: it will remain a niche product, but whoever wants to buy it will find it”. The niche and the doubts derive above all from price, which is 599.99 euros: added to that of the console, it makes almost 1200 euros, which is a lot of money. On this, the company is not hiding: “It is an expensive device, but we believe that the price is adequate for the value of the product and its technological content – Saletta told us again – There is the 4K viewer with 110 degrees of visionimproved head tracking and eye tracking, new sensors, motion sickness practically zeroed and it can also be used with glasses without any problems”.

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And the PlayStation 6?

And of course there is a list of some over 30 games ready or coming soon (here the complete list)among which they stand out GT7 , Resident Evil Village And Horizon: Call of the Mountain.

It is still too early to understand if the VR2 will be the game changer for virtual reality video games and in general for people’s approach to virtual reality, but one thing is certain: Sony has no intention of abandoning games as we have understood them so far. When we teased him with a few questions about the next PlayStation 6, which could arrive between 2027 and 2028, Saletta was clear: “I imagine it won’t be just VR, because we want to continue to offer customers all possible experiences, even the most traditional game , as we have done so far”. More: “Thanks to the use of cinema and TV series (il reference is to Uncharted and to the beautiful The Last of Us, ed) we manage to bring even those who perhaps have never thought of gaming closer to gaming”. Whether it’s in VR or not, it doesn’t matter.

@capoema