PS5 VS Xbox Series X... Next-Generation Console Game Showdown

All Pre-Orders Sold Out... Consecutive Releases in November

[Asia Economy Reporter Jin-gyu Lee] A fierce battle between Sony and Microsoft (MS) over next-generation console game devices is unfolding. Both companies have sparked sell-out situations in South Korea as soon as pre-orders began, showing that console game users' anticipation is hotter than ever. It has been seven years since the release of new console game devices following the 'PlayStation 4 (PS4)' and 'Xbox One'.

According to the industry on the 26th, Sony's 'PlayStation 5 (PS5)' and MS's 'Xbox Series X·S' recently held pre-orders in South Korea, and all units sold out within minutes of the pre-order start.

Sony apologized for the early sell-out incidents during the PS5 pre-orders conducted worldwide and announced plans to supply additional stock as soon as possible. Sony began PS5 pre-orders on the 18th in the first global sales countries including South Korea, the United States, Japan, and Europe. However, during the pre-order process, server crashes and sell-out chaos caused consumer dissatisfaction.

In South Korea, PS5 pre-orders started at 12 PM on the 18th, but a sell-out occurred in less than an hour. By 1 PM that day, online and offline partner shopping malls selling PS5 announced that the PS5 was sold out.

In the first pre-order of Xbox Series X·S held in South Korea, a sell-out also occurred within minutes. Xbox Series X·S pre-orders were conducted from the 22nd to the 25th at two places: Hi-Mart and the official Naver Xbox sales site. On the first day, the 22nd, as soon as pre-orders started, many users rushed in and all stock was sold out. Therefore, additional pre-orders were held from the 23rd to the 25th.

The Xbox Series X·S and PS5 are coincidentally scheduled to be released around the same time. The Xbox Series X·S will officially launch on November 10. The high-performance version, Series X, is priced at 598,000 KRW, and the budget version, Series S, is priced at 398,000 KRW. The PS5 is scheduled for official release on November 12. The standard PS5 version with a Blu-ray disc drive is priced at 628,000 KRW, and the digital edition version without a disc drive is priced at 498,000 KRW.