As of December 14, 2023, buyers in Russia were offered fresh PlayStation 5 Slim consoles with prices starting at 70,000 rubles, according to a report from iXBT. The rollout marks one of the first major retail entrances for Sony’s redesigned console since the company paused its official operations in the country. This shift relies on parallel import channels to bring the product to market, bypassing direct distribution through Sony’s official channels in Russia.
DNS, among the early retailers to publicize the pre orders, listed the new PlayStation 5 Slim at 70,000 rubles for the standard Edition with a disc-free Digital Version priced at 70,000 rubles and the Disc Edition at 80,000 rubles. On the global market, those same models translate to about $450 for the Digital Edition and $500 for the Disc Edition, which roughly equates to 41,000 and 45,600 rubles at current exchange rates. The price gap reflects different configurations and regional pricing strategies that have persisted in parallel import scenarios.
The updated PlayStation 5 units are compact refinements of the original model, offering reductions in size, weight, and power consumption. The absence of official Russian distribution means the consoles will be supplied through parallel import networks rather than a direct Sony supply line. This approach allows Russian customers to access the latest hardware while the company maintains its official stance outside the market.
Officially, the newer consoles are designated PlayStation 5, but most users and sellers refer to them as Slim because of their slimmer profile. A notable feature is the ability to connect an external drive, enabling Digital Edition owners to acquire and attach an additional drive later if desired. The Slim version also ships with a 1 TB solid-state drive and two USB Type-C ports, expanding options for storage expansion and peripheral connectivity. These enhancements align with the industry trend toward larger internal storage and more flexible I/O options, accommodating the growing size of digital game libraries and faster loading times.
In related news, news outlets reported ahead of Black Friday that Turkey observed price increases for a large catalog of games on the PlayStation Store, signaling that regional pricing dynamics and promotional calendars can influence consumer costs across the broader market. This context helps explain the variability in prices across different regions and retailers during the holiday season and the ensuing months. (Source: iXBT)