New PS5 Digital Edition Arrives in Europe With Less Memory, Same Cost

Sony introduces a revised Playstation 5 Digital Edition in Europe in September. The new CFI-2100 model continues to cost 499 euros, but only offers 825 GB SSD memory instead of 1 TB. A paradoxical decision on the part of the Japanese.

Less memory at the same price

Sony brings a new revision of the PlayStation 5 Digital Edition to the European market. The CFI-2100 series (model CFI-2116) will be available from September 13 for 499 euros, but with a significantly reduced SSD capacity of only 825 GB instead of the previous terabytes. The decision represents an unusual development in the console industry, since hardware revisions usually bring improvements or at least constant specifications at falling prices.

The Japanese group had already increased the prices for the PS5 twice – initially by up to 20 percent in most markets outside the USA, later also in America. With the memory reduction, Sony apparently tries to avoid further price increases while the production costs are reduced at the same time.

Digital edition particularly affected

The storage cut only affects the digital edition without a disc drive. The PlayStation 5 Standard Edition keeps your 1 TB SSD. The decision appears paradoxical, since users of the digital edition are only dependent on downloaded games and therefore actually need more storage space than buyers of the standard version with physical media.

Modern PlayStation 5 games often show between 50 and 100 GB of storage space. With the reduced capacity of 825 GB – of which around 667 GB can be used after deduction of the operating system – players can keep significantly fewer titles installed at the same time. The new packaging will clearly identify the “825 GB” capacity so that buyers can distinguish the different models.

The development reflects the difficult market situation for console manufacturers. The current generation is the first in which systems became more expensive instead of cheaper after the launch. Even game publishers like Capcom see the high console prices a reason for weaker game sales. It remains to be seen whether Sony will also implement the storage reduction in other regions outside of Europe.