PlayStation announced its big holiday deal on Tuesday, discounting the PlayStation 5 Digital Edition by $70 from now until December 24, 2024.
The disc-free version of the console will start at $380, down from its standard $450 price. That’s a pretty sizable discount on the latest version of the base edition PS5.
This deal is clearly targeted at holiday shoppers. Black Friday is coming up, so this also serves as PlayStation hardware’s big savings for later this month. After Christmas, it’ll be back up to its regular price.
While getting a mainline console for under $400 these days is always worth checking out, the discount isn’t as drastic as it seems on the surface. For one, the vertical stand is sold separately. As this is the digital version, it also doesn’t come with a disc drive, which can also be bought separately. If you want the ability to play physical games or have flexibility in setting up the PS5, you’re out of luck unless you don’t mind spending $80 on a disc drive (currently out of stock on the PlayStation Direct store) or $30 for the vertical stand . Also, $380 is only $20 less than the $400 the PS5 Digital Edition cost at launch in 2020.
Put together, this sale is still less expensive than the PS5 Slim with a built-in disc drive. This version hasn’t been discounted for the holidays and still costs $500 — and the vertical stand is sold separately, a fact that seems to be quickly becoming a meme if the comments on the YouTube video above are any indication.
The PS5 Slim replaced the infamously chunky PS5 Sony released in 2020. It doesn’t change much about the launch console, but it’s thinner and has slightly more storage. There also aren’t any differences between the Digital Edition and regular edition besides the disc drive. If you have the money to spare this holiday and need the best frame rates possible, there’s also the PS5 Pro, which launched earlier this month for $700 (disc drive and vertical stand sold separately).
