Sony announces date for PlayStation 5 Showcase

After Microsoft blinked first, Sony announces the date and time for its big PlayStation 5 Showcase event. (Where we’ll presumably learn the release date and price of the PS5.)

Earlier this week, earlier than (presumably) planned and in response to a leak, Microsoft revealed the price and release date for its next-generation of consoles, the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S.

It’s fair to say that announcement would not make comfortable reading for Sony, with the Xbox Series X coming in at £449, and the smaller, less powerful Xbox Series S at £249. (And you can get them both on a monthly subscription plan that includes Xbox Game Pass. If you’re getting Game Pass, it doesn’t make sense not to rent-to-buy the console. Oh, and they’re also including EA Access in Game Pass too, for no extra cost. It’s all looking very good, isn’t it?)

But in the big game of console announcement chicken, the party who has gone second has, traditionally, triumphed. The opportunity to see how your counterpart has done, to assess and adjust, it’s invaluable.

We’ll find out if that theory holds true on Wednesday, September 16, when Sony hosts a PlayStation 5 Showcase.

PlayStation 5 Showcase broadcasts live this Wednesday at 1pm Pacific Time: https://t.co/W4gkVp7pdv pic.twitter.com/Nn33RT0yki

— PlayStation (@PlayStation) September 12, 2020

Things that Sony can show us in the PlayStation 5 Showcase:

• The price
• The release date

Things that Sony really need to show us, so that the PS5 and PS5 all-digital look as inviting a proposition as possible compared to Xbox’s next-gen consoles:

• A price that’s comparable to (if not cheaper than) the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S
• A rent-to-buy subscription service
• A new version of PlayStation Now that’s actually comparable to Xbox Game Pass
• Backwards compatibility that doesn’t suck

Things that Sony, unfortunately, can’t change in time for the PlayStation 5 Showcase event:

• Make the PS5 look less stupid and enormous
• Make the PS5 any less impractical to have under your telly

We’ll find out on September 16 at 1 pm Pacific. (That’s 9 pm BST.)

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