A new revision of the PlayStation 5 is reportedly on the way, with Sony deciding that, instead of price increases, they might give shrinkflation a try instead for PS5 model CFI-2100. Specifically for the PS5 Slim Digital Edition, the built-in SSD is set to decrease in size from 1TB back to 825GB.
Japanese regulatory documents were picked up on by Japanese site Kunkoko in June, with reliable leaker billbil-kun on French deals site Dealabs now furthering this information for how Sony plan to launch the new revision.
PS5 model CFI-2100, also termed as Chassis E, will also have other internal tweaks and efficiencies while retaining the now standard PS5 Slim outer design. Strangely, billbil-kun reports that Sony will split production of this chassis beyond just whether or not there is a disc drive attached, so now the lower-priced Digital Edition will only come with 825GB, while the Standard edition with a disc drive will still have 1TB, as was typical since the PS5 Slim’s debut in 2023.
An expected release into the European market is coming on 13th September, with the current €499.99 digital edition and €549 standard edition pricing remaining since earlier this year. The separate disc drive will remain at €79.99, but it makes the digital edition even worse value than trying to find an extra €50.
The days of games consoles getting cheaper are seemingly well and truly gone. While Sony has made significant hardware changes to their console since launch, bringing die shrunk chipsets, reducing the size of heat sink, shrinking the console as a whole, and more, they’ve not reduced the price over time. Certainly, it has been a difficult half decade with a pandemic, massive supply chain issues, and then economic inflation, and now US tariffs all hampering their ability to do this, but it’s still pretty galling that Sony and Microsoft have both chosen to make their console hardware more expensive over time.
The PS5 Digital Edition has been the focus of increasing prices this year, having started at £349 / €399 in 2020, jumping to £389 / €449 in 2022, holding that price with the Slim redesign and 1TB SSD increase in 2023 (at the cost of including a vertical stand), but having both a price increase to £429 / €499 and now an SSD reduction in 2025. By contrast, the Standard Edition has merely increased by £30 / €50, so Sony is really just shrinking the value margin between the two, for the time being.
