PS5 Slim Digital Edition Gets Price Increase

PlayStation is putting out a PS5 Slim ahead of the holiday season, an announcement that finally confirmed longstanding rumors about a new PS5 model. This slimmed-down version of the original PS5 will cost the same price if you’re buying the edition that comes with a disc, so no changes there other than benefits for those who’ve held out, but for the PS5 Digital Edition, it’s a different story. That slimmer version of the console will cost $50 more at $449.99 instead of the $399.99 price it launched at. What’s more, PlayStation has confirmed that once the original PS5 models have sold out, the slimmer options (and more expensive option in the case of the Digital Edition) will be the only models sold.

The announcement post about the slimmer PS5 models constantly refers to it as a new “model,” emphasis on the singular nature of it, so it may not be immediately evident from the wording, but the new PS5 Digital Edition is slimmer, too. PlayStation is also providing a way to essentially turn it back into a PS5 with a disc drive, though that’d make it cost even more than the disc version.

PS5 Slim Digital Edition Price Increase

The PS5 Digital Edition goes for $399 from any typical retailer nowadays, though finding one still isn’t always a surefire process seeing how it’s currently sold out via PlayStation Direct, for example. Whenever this new PS5 Slim Digital Edition releases in November, it’ll sport 1TB of storage which differs from the default option of 825GB available right now. Interestingly enough, the normal disc-enabled PS5 comes with 825GB of storage, too, but the slimmer model of that one won’t get any kind of price increase.

But what if you regret your PS5 Slim Digital Edition purchase later on and end up wanting to play a game on a disc considering how fickle digital media tends to be nowadays? PlayStation will give you an option to change up your console, but not for free. An Ultra Blu-ray Disc Drive add-on is being released, too, which you can then add to your Digital Edition. That disc drive costs $79.99, so if you change your mind later, you’ll end up paying more than the alternative. 

Other add-ons confirmed in the announcement of the slimmer models indicated that the PS5 is becoming much more modular. A horizontal stand is included with a purchase of either of the new, slimmer PS5s, but if you want to set your PS5 up vertically, you’ll have to purchase that stand for $29.99. It’s unclear what impact, if any, all of these changes will have on the faceplates the current PS5s sport which can be swapped out for other options, but we’ve reached out for comment.

Over time, PlayStation said these new slimmer models will phase out the original offerings. 

“The new PS5 model will be available starting this November in the U.S. at select local retailers and direct.playstation.com where available,” PlayStation said. “It will continue to roll out globally in the following months. Once inventory of the current PS5 model has sold out, the new PS5 will become the only model available.”

The new PS5 slim models will go on sale in November.