Microsoft expects Sony to release a slimmer PlayStation 5 model sometime this year
New court documents state as much.
New documents from the FTC vs Microsoft hearing claim that Sony plans to release a PlayStation 5 Slim later this year, according to the Xbox maker.
Per Microsoft, it believes Sony will release the slimmer version of PS5 for $399.99, bringing the price in line with the digital edition of PS5 (via IGN).
While some of the content is redacted, in the document, Microsoft is trying to convince the presiding federal judge of Xbox being third in the marketplace behind Switch and PlayStation.
The FTC contends that Xbox and PlayStation constitute a market of two because the consoles are offered at a similar price. Microsoft contests this notion because the FTC’s analysis considers only the high-end models of Xbox and PlayStation, while ignoring the differentiation within Xbox’s console lines.
The company notes in the document that entry-level versions of the current Xbox and Switch are offered at the same price point ($299.99), and the Xbox Series S is sold for $50 less than the Switch OLED model ($349.99). And, with Sony slated to release a PS5 Slim later this year, it will bring a newer model and contender into the fold at the same reduced price point.
Microsoft also noted that Xbox and PlayStation differentiate on performance, as Xbox Series S has less GPU processing power, system memory, internal storage and renders images at a lower resolution than Xbox Series X or PS5. Furthermore, Sony currently offers two different versions of the standard PS5: one with a disc, and one without.
The company also thinks Sony will release a Pro edition, further differentiating it and the Slim model from Xbox offers.
Plus, the Xbox maker also anticipates Sony will release its handheld version of PlayStation 5, the dedicated streaming device Project Q, later this year for under $300.
Sony releasing a PS5 Slim wouldn’t be a shock, considering it has released slim versions of its consoles in the past along with Pro models. Microsoft, on the other hand, said it does not see the need to release mid-cycle consoles as it did in the past with Xbox One S and Xbox One X - at least for now.