New documents from FTC v. Microsoft hearing say Sony plans to release PlayStation 5 Slim Edition According to the Xbox maker, it will be available later this year.
According to Microsoft, it believes Sony will release the PS5 Lite for $399.99, bringing the price in line with the digital version of the PS5 (via IGN).
While some of the filings have been redacted, Microsoft is trying to convince a federal judge to make the Xbox the No. 3 player in the market behind the Switch and PlayStation.
The FTC considers the Xbox and PlayStation to constitute two markets because the two consoles are priced similarly. Microsoft has questioned that notion, as the FTC’s analysis only considered high-end models of the Xbox and PlayStation, ignoring differences within the Xbox console line.
The company notes in the filing that the entry-level versions of the current Xbox and Switch cost the same ($299.99), while the Xbox Series S costs $50 less than the Switch OLED model ($349.99). And, with Sony planning to release the PS5 Slim later this year, it will introduce newer models and competitors with the same price cut.
Microsoft also points out that there is a difference in performance between the Xbox and PlayStation, as the Xbox Series S has less GPU processing power, system memory, internal storage, and renders images at a lower resolution than the Xbox Series X or PS5. Additionally, Sony currently offers two different versions of the standard PS5: one with a disc and one without.
The company also believes Sony will release a Pro version, further differentiating it and the Slim model from the Xbox lineup.
The Xbox maker also expects Sony to release a handheld version of its PlayStation 5 later this year, the Project Q, a dedicated streaming device, that will cost less than $300.
Sony’s announcement of the PS5 Slim isn’t a surprise, as the company has released slimmer versions of its consoles in the past alongside Pro models. Microsoft, on the other hand, says it doesn’t see the need for a mid-range console release like it has done with the Xbox One S and Xbox One X in the past — at least for now.
