Sony will launch its next-generation PlayStation 5 video game console on Nov. 12 in select markets including North America and Japan with its digital-oriented version without a disc drive priced at $399.99, or 39,980 yen, Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc. said Thursday.
 
The other model, equipped with an Ultra HD Blu-ray disc drive, will cost $499.99, or 49,980 yen, the Sony group company in charge of development and sales of PlayStation consoles said. Suggested retail prices exclude tax and select retailers will start accepting pre-orders as early as Friday for the products, it added.
 
PS5 will launch on Nov. 12 in Australia, Canada, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, South Korea and the United States. The global rollout will continue on Nov. 19 with launches in other parts of the world including Asia, Europe, the Middle East, South America and South Africa.
Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc.'s PlayStation 5 video game console. (Kyodo)

PS5 Digital Edition was developed as downloading games has become increasingly common. In fiscal 2019, 55 percent of games' sales for PlayStation4 came from downloads.

Among PS5's features are a data-processing capacity 100 times faster than PS4's and advanced audio technology, the company said.

"With PlayStation 5, we are making a significant leap to deliver a truly new generation of transformative play experiences that will redefine expectations for what games can be," Jim Ryan, president and CEO of the Sony unit, had said in a statement released in June.

It also revealed some new game titles for PS5, including Final Fantasy XVI, the latest installment of a blockbuster action role-playing game series by Square Enix Co.

With an eye on the year-end shopping season, rival Microsoft Corp. will release on Nov. 10 its Xbox Series X console at an estimated retail price of $499, or 49,980 yen in Japan and Xbox Series S at $299, or 32,980 yen.

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