TOKYO: Sony’s PlayStation 5 hit the shelves on Thursday, just two days after rival Microsoft released its newest Xbox, with the next-generation consoles vying for holiday season dominance as the pandemic boosts gaming demand.

With pre-orders pointing to a record launch, market leader Sony is counting on big-ticket exclusive games like “Spider-Man: Miles Morales” to keep the edge over its US challenger.

But with coronavirus cases rising in many countries, launch events are off the table, and crowds of eager customers out of the question.

While the new Xbox hit shelves worldwide on Tuesday, the PS5 is available from Thursday in Australia, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, North America and South Korea, but gamers elsewhere will have to wait until November 19.

In Sydney, just a handful of customers were collecting their pre-ordered consoles on Thursday morning.

For Sony, the stakes with its new console are significantly higher than for Microsoft, as gaming generates the lion’s share of the Japanese firm’s profits and about a third of its sales.

Gaming accounts for just 10 percent of Microsoft’s sales, by comparison.

But Sony’s margin on the PS5 will be slim, possibly even loss-making, analysts say — with the company counting on sales of games, services and online subscriptions to turn a profit.

Sony expects to sell 7.6 million PS5 consoles by the end of March — beating the performance of the PS4.

The PS5 is priced at $500, like the Xbox Series X, while a version without a disk reader costs $400.

That is more than the $300 price tag for Microsoft’s less powerful Xbox Series S, which also has no disk reader.

The cheaper consoles with no disk reader are aimed at gamers with fast connections and willing to play online, and this is a group that is expanding, according to the head of Sony’s video gaming unit, Jim Ryan.—AFP