There’s an interesting new rumor about some new PlayStation 5 bundles coming up soon.
As reported by billbil-kun for Dealabs, Sony will soon be offering two new PlayStation 5 Slim bundles with copies of Microsoft’s live service shooter, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6. If some gamers were speculating if Activision would stop working with Sony on these bundles, that’s clearly not the case at all.
The bundles will be offered in Europe, the US, and other parts of the world. billbil-kun noted that the prices for these bundles are unchanged, but that comes with some caveats. These are the bundles and the respective prices:
- PS5 Slim Standard Bundle (with disc drive) + Call of Duty Black Ops 6 download code : $449.99 USD / €499.99
- PS5 Slim Digital Edition Bundle (without disc drive) + Call of Duty Black Ops 6 download code : $399.99 USD / €449.99
billbil-kun pointed out that Xbox recently raised prices for all their products across the board, including consoles, Xbox games, and accessories. So theoretically, these PlayStation 5 bundles would be better deals, especially since their prices are unchanged. But as we also reported last month, PlayStation also raised prices for their consoles around the world. The big difference is Sony has been selective with price increases, for some products and in some regions. In this case, Sony did announce higher prices for PlayStation 5 “Slim” consoles than the prices billbil-kun claims.
billbil-kun had to add the caveat that the prices he shared are estimated. As we know that these changes are coming because of unfavorable market conditions, these planned prices may also have to change when Sony finally announces and launches them.
This makes for an awkward situation for Sony and Microsoft. On the surface, Microsoft is helping make these bundles with Sony in good faith. They’re helping sell their competition’s console, because they’re also benefiting from it. But we can also see that this comes months after Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 was already released. The next Call of Duty may be announced as soon as next month’s Xbox Games Showcase. So, Microsoft did have a caveat to make this deal happen, as Sony definitely would have sold more console if they were available when Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 launched.
But even that situation is made even more awkward because of the timing of these new rumored bundles. Will Sony be forced to raise the price of these bundles because of US tariffs? And that could be true in and out of the US, because the tariffs have far reaching effects beyond its own borders. In spite of the seeming enduring strength of PlayStation’s brand, we would question the wisdom of going through with these bundles. But we’ll see if Sony goes through with releasing these bundles, what prices they will actually have, and how successful they will turn out.
