Don’t bet your house on this, there’s sure to be plenty of speculation about the PlayStation 4’s launch price, right up until the moment when Sony announces it. It’s reasonably well known around the whispering corridors of the games industry that, with the PS3, Sony didn’t decide on a final price until the evening before they announced it. But, amid all the speculation, there’s one retailer sure enough to take a punt.
TheHut.com has sent out a marketing email (screenshot below) advertising their pre-order offer for the PS4. They’ve priced it at £399.99. Interestingly, though, that’s with no deposit and it carries their pre-order price promise. This means that they won’t charge you more than £399.99, even if it launches at a ridiculous price. So TheHut.com is relatively sure (they’re betting money on it, after all) that the PS4 won’t be more expensive than £400.
The listing is, of course, still a little vague on details so there’s wriggle-room in there if Sony has multiple bundles available – say a full featured one with that camera and a big hard disk and then a cheaper one with none of the extra pack-ins and a small hard disk.
They also list a release date but that’s obviously a placeholder – December 31st 2013. At least it shows that they’re hopeful we’ll see the console in the UK this year.
Source: TheHut mailer, thanks Silent-Blair
Roynaldo
I was about to pre order the other day then suddenly thought. Crap, there will be all sorts of different versions and packages and price wars even. Better to hang on til the last few weeks methinks.
BrendanCalls
My reasoning precisely, no gain to be made by being to premature…I speak from experience ;-)
ron_mcphatty
Good point, but couldn’t you pre-order now and cancel later if something better comes along? £399 seems like an acceptable price, to be fair I thought the PS3 wasn’t too bad seeing as how expensive blu-ray players were at the time.
LeftyFlip
I was about to pre-order then I thought, “oh wait, Aliens: Colonial Marines. Nevermind”.
parryman
I’m waiting to see what M$ have to say.
Never owned (or played if I’m being honest) and XBox, might sort that depending on pricewars
cam the man
There’s a lot of reports going round stating $400 (£263.82) as the magic price, so hopefully it’ll be nearer the £300 mark.
That could be just the cheaper model though?
Jakster123x
£300 is definitely the price everyone’s hoping for, £400 is way too close to THAT PS3 launch. That can’t happen again.
A 500GB hard drive PS4 with a controller, headset and camera for £300 would be perfect. Games would bump that up of course, but for the console that’s pretty good. Also, i’m interested to see if the current PS+ subscriptions would carry over to PS4.
Broonba
I’m no expert, but if I was a betting man, I’d put money on PS4 being £399.99 when It’s released.
I hope I’m wrong tho & it ends up being £299.99.
bunimomike
Same here. That hardware is simply going to bump up the price (8GB of quality RAM).
I have it pegged at RRP of £399.99 but if they can get it anywhere near the £299.99 mark of old, I’d be sooo happy!
LTG Davey
No point pre ordering yet, it’s all about the bundles. I remember saving a decent chunk of cash when I bought my 360, resulting in me getting my copy of Perfect Dark Zero for nothing. That said I have £160 to use in my local Blockbuster (assuming they are still there by then) so my hands are sort of tied at the moment, heh
Origami Killer
I’ve already prepared myself for a £400 price tag at launch, expecting the console to be cheaper than that though, so I can pick up a few extras.
Bilbo_bobbins
I know a lot of people are hoping it will be £300 but I just can’t see it. £400 will be the mark, but I would like to see a game with it for that price. Best to wait nearer the time to see what bundles there are.
Youles
I recommend not using The Hut/Zavvi.com….their service is a disgrace. Had issues with both my recent orders with them. I’m still waiting for a refund for something they claim not to have, even though Royal Mail confirmed it was delivered on 19th February.
They also don’t respond to their own Message Centre, and provide you with a phone number which is just a recorded message. Awful.
DividSmythe
I’ve only ordered a few things of them and decided to cancel after a few weeks waiting for delivery I canceled. Although zavvi eBay isn’t to bad. I got my Wii U New years week in less than a week. But usually I won’t touch them any more.
Youles
I had the Complete edition of DiRT 3 on order for weeks and weeks, but they did actually come through in the end. However communication was poor so I was never sure if I was going to get it until it got dispatched – it said “awaiting stock” or something for ages.
I will try to use other places in future, unless they have a silly price or decent exclusive.
Peter Chapman
It seems like every online retailer has a horror story to go along with them somewhere – mine revolves around ShopTo and over £6 grand in credit card fraud but almost everyone else (well, everyone who hasn’t been insulted by their twitter account!) thinks they’re brilliant. I only buy game stuff online from Amazon, Game and Gamestop now.
Youles
True, but I’ve been buying game for years on various online retailers but Zavvi win the award for being the worst, by some margin. They’re good for prices but as soon as you need to communicate with them it goes horribly wrong. I wouldn’t usually swear not to use a particular retailer again, but I’m seriously considering it with Zavvi. It hurts more when it appears I’m forced to use Twitter to communicate with, as everything else seems to be ignored.
Anyway, you were insulted by them? :O
Despite their pricing (at times), I usually by from GAME.co.uk, and sometimes Amazon.co.uk.
Youles
*buy not by (idiot) :/
Bilbo_bobbins
Anyone tried Tesco Entertainment? Don’t bother. Argos too, they even take your money instantly rather than waiting until they dispatch it.
Out of all of them I find Game or Amazon to be the best, and I normally get them a day before release.
Youles
Damn, I hate it when they take the money straight away, that was an issue I had with ShopTo since I didn’t realise they had two types of pre-orders (pay now, pay later)! :/
kjkg
No point ordering yet. But I am keen to find out a price so I can begin saving the pennies.
Youles
Saving? I’m just going to sell a kidney.
The Lone Steven
I can help you with that. You just need to sign this contract and you will get £399(may be less if your kidney is rubbish). :P
Youles
Is this contract written on rice paper?
kjkg
How do I judge if my kidney is rubbish. Is it like in Game when I traded in games, they would tell me a really crap price but I’d still go ahead since I was there?
I don’t know if I want to take my kidney out to then be forced into selling it at £100, that doesn’t seem wise.
The Lone Steven
It’s written on real paper. Regarding the quailty, i’ll preform a series of over the top tests to determine what it is worth. May be a bit painful though but, hey, it’s £1 to £1000 depending on the kidney.