digitalonly

Sony has released a revised digital PS5 model in Europe, with less storage and a new matte finish – but the price hasn’t been reduced.

Earlier this month, reliable insider Billbil-Kun reported the digital-only model of the PS5 would receive a downgrade from 1TB of storage to 825GB. This model went on sale in Europe this month – and crucially costs the same (€499) despite less storage.

Now, a new unboxing video on YouTube from Austin Evans confirms the storage downgrade, as well as the use of cheaper parts, based on a new console purchased from Germany.

The New PS5 Slim is WORSEWatch on YouTube

Both the black central casing of the console and the white outer sleeves now come in a matte finish rather than a glossy finish – no more fingerprints!

The newer console is also 100g lighter than the previous slim version – and 1.3kg lighter than the launch model.

As for the SSD, the actual amount of usable storage on the newer model is 667.2GB (compared with 848.0GB of usable space on the previous model). That’s a 27 percent reduction and not a huge amount of space, especially considering this is a digital-only model

Inside, the fan is lighter, plus the motherboard design has been refined and is thinner.

While Evans notes the internal engineering is excellent in maintaining the same power and performance, ultimately the reduced SSD makes this iteration of the console considerably worse.

For Sony, it’s presumably cheaper to make. But that saving has not been passed on to the consumer, considering all PS5 consoles cost more now than ever.

Earlier this year, Sony raised the price of the digital edition in the UK and mainland Europe from £390/€450 to £430/€500. And this was the second price increase, as it originally cost £359.99/€399.99 at launch, meaning the digital edition is €100 more than five years ago.

More recently, the price of all versions of the console went up in the US as the company continues to “navigate a challenging economic environment”. It’s unclear yet if the revised version of the console with storage reduction will be available in the US as in Europe.

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Sales of physical software accounted for just three percent of PlayStation sales last year, according to Sony’s latest corporate report.

Considering the company’s total gaming division sales in 2024 were 4,670bn yen (around $31.77bn by today’s conversion), Sony still made around $953m in physical software sales (as a rough estimate).

However, that number has dropped from six percent of sales back in 2020. It’s no wonder Sony’s PS5 consoles are primarily digital-only when fewer consumers are buying physical games, even with the option of a disc drive. Or has there been a decline in physical games because of the digital-only consoles? And with reports the PS6 will also be digital-only with an optional disc drive, it’s a trend that’s only set to continue.

Astro Bot – Launch Trailer | PS5 GamesWatch on YouTube

By comparison, hardware makes up 24 percent of sales, though that’s a given considering the high cost of consoles – a price that keeps getting higher. That’s increased from 19 percent in 2020.

Digital software sales, meanwhile, account for 20 percent of revenue – a huge margin compared with physical sales.

Add-on content (DLC, effectively), accounts for 29 percent of sales, the biggest revenue driver of all. It’s no wonder, then, Sony is so keen to push live-service games – its report highlights the success of Helldivers 2, Destiny 2, Gran Turismo and MLB The Show, as well as noting the “eagerly awaited Marathon”.

Interestingly, the proportion of network services sales has dropped since 2020 from 17 to 14 percent (perhaps due to the rise in hardware sales). However, since 2022, monthly active users have increased 14 percent to 124 million accounts in 2024.

Image credit: Sony

Another reason for the lower physical software sales last year could be the limited number of first-party games released, which tend to be bought more as physical editions. Astro Bot was the company’s biggest release last year, which sold 1.5m in its first month, but it was otherwise a quiet year.

PlayStation’s decline in physical game sales parallels Nintendo’s struggles with Switch 2. As game sizes have increased, it’s become more difficult to squeeze them onto physical media – that’s why Switch 2 uses game key cards that act as a key for a download. But with digital storage at a premium, it means massive games like Final Fantasy 7 Remake will take up huge amounts of capacity.

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Sony’s digital-only PS5 now comes with less storage in Europe and isn’t any cheaper to buy

As PlayStation physical game sales drop, it’s no wonder Sony is pushing digital-only consoles