Sony opens up PlayStation 5 pre-orders to select players

By Don Reisinger August 27, 2020

Sony’s PlayStation 5 may not have an official launch date or price, but at least some would-be owners are getting an express pass to pre-order the tech giant’s next-generation console.

Sony is sending PlayStation 5 pre-order invitations on Thursday to players based on their “previous interests and PlayStation activities.” Those who are selected for the program will receive an email invitation to pre-order the console. Those who don’t receive an email will not be able to participate in the program, and there’s no sign-up page where people can apply for the invite.

In an FAQ page Sony published to its PlayStation page on Thursday, the company said the pre-order opportunity will provide players with the option to buy one PlayStation 5 or one PlayStation 5 Digital Edition. They can also pre-order up to two DualSense controllers, two DualSense charging stations, and two Pulse 3D wireless headsets. Two media remotes and two HD cameras can also be pre-ordered through the offer.

Sony said that players won’t be required to pre-order all of that equipment. And they’ll need to make their selections within a set amount of time, as dictated in the email. Quantities are limited for the offer, so Sony said players who receive invites will want to move quickly. The hardware must be shipped to a U.S. address: The offer isn’t available to anyone living internationally.

While Sony’s program appears to be an attempt to ensure loyal PlayStation gamers have access to its new console, plenty of questions abound. The invites won’t share PlayStation 5 pricing or availability information, and it’s unclear how much of a head start (if any) those who receive the invites may have. Ultimately, it appears Sony is simply reserving a number of consoles and hardware for the group to maximize their chances of getting a console on day one.

Sony has yet to share its PlayStation 5 launch date and has so far stuck to a holiday 2020 time frame. Whenever the PlayStation 5 launches, look for it to be a bit more expensive than the discless Digital Edition. An exact price point is still unknown.

For its part, Microsoft has said that its Xbox Series X will be available this November.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Don Reisinger is a freelance technology, video game, and entertainment journalist. He has been writing about the world of…

Gaming

PlayStation Spring Sale: best deals, how long is the sale, and more

With the rise of all-digital consoles, more and more people are doing a majority of their game shopping on digital storefronts. For PlayStation 5 owners, whether you have a disk drive or not, you more than likely have at least a couple of games purchased from the PlayStation Store. The convenience of simply downloading a game and not having to worry about the disk is great, but you also can catch some amazing deals. The biggest sales events come seasonally, and the current Spring Sale is offering deep discounts of up to 90% on some of the biggest games on the platform. If you've been waiting to pick up one of the great games you missed earlier this year or in years past, now might be the best time to snag it for cheap!
When is the PlayStation Spring Sale 2024?
The PlayStation Spring Sale started on March 27, 2024, but new deals were added on April 10 that will last until April 24.

If any deal is exclusively for a PS5 version of a game that is also on PS4, we will note that beside the title. Since all PS4 games run on PS5, we won't mark PS4 games.
Best deals for the PlayStation Spring Sale
God of War Ragnarök Sony Interactive Entertainment

Gaming

All upcoming PS5 games: 2024 and beyond

Eve kneeling with her sword.

The PlayStation 5 has been out for some time now, and its reception has been mostly positive. It includes lots of quality-of-life improvements over its predecessor, the PlayStation 4, such as faster load times, a solid-state drive (SSD) instead of a regular hard disk drive (HDD), and an improved controller in the form of the new DualSense. However, a console is only as good as the games available on it, and thankfully, the PS5 has you covered on that front as well.

While the machine already has a worthy library of great PS5 games, there are even more to look forward to, with some releasing as soon as this month, while others are still years away. In the video game world, it's not uncommon to be aware of games that are still several years out from release. It's also normal for a new game to be revealed and launched within just a couple of months. In this comprehensive list, we'll go through the major PS5 releases scheduled for 2023 and speculate on future games.

Gaming

PlayStation 6: release date speculation, price, specs, and more

sony reveals customizable ps5 dualsense edge controller front and back

In a recent quote, Sony Senior Vice President Naomi Matsuoka said: "Looking ahead, PS5 will enter the latter stage of its life cycle." Many in the industry took that to mean that we may be hearing about the next PlayStation console sooner rather than later.

Considering Sony has yet to break its naming convention, it feels safe to assume whatever future home console we get will be called the PlayStation 6. But not only has the name not been officially confirmed, but neither has the idea of a next-generation PlayStation console or even a PS5 Pro. It's almost a guarantee, but technically nothing is set in stone. Rumors and potential leaks have already started stirring up excitement, so let's see what the future of PlayStation may look like according to the rumors.
Release date speculation