New PlayStation 5 Model No Longer Includes Vertical Stand, Now Sold Separately

It’s a sad day for the big boys of the world, as Sony is bidding adieu to the largest member of the PlayStation family. Ever since its release, fans have been in awe of the PlayStation 5, not only for its impressive graphical capabilities but for its overall size and mass. They’re in absolute awe of the size of the lad, if that’s even still a trendy thing to say. However, revealed this morning out of the blue, Sony announced that a new look and form factor is coming for the newest member of the PlayStation family.

While not officially called the PlayStation 5 Slim, the newest revision of the console reduces the overall volume by 30%, weighs 18% to 24% less than its previous iteration, and also includes an exciting new party trick: an additional Disc Drive that can be purchased and attached to your console, no matter if you bought the Digital Edition or the Standard one. However, while all of these new features are rather exciting, the removal of the Vertical Stand has us less than excited.

While the PS5 Slim may quite thin, it’s still very, very tall. It’s the Wilt Chamberlain of video game consoles, absolutely towering over any of the competition with its impressive height. This can make storing it on its side rather cumbersome, especially if you don’t have much room to work with on your entertainment center or your desk, depending on where you play. The launch day PlayStation 5 and every bundle since its release has included the Vertical Stand, so why can’t this one?

You’ll also find that the new version of the Digital Edition will cost $50 USD more than its current model, mainly due to the addition of the new disk drive that you can purchase. It will cost you more in the long run to buy the Disk Drive separately, but honestly, it’s surprisingly pro-consumer, since you can just clip in a new drive if something happens to your disk reading abilities.

If you’re distraught like us about the Vertical Stand, just know that you can purchase one for $29.99 USD. It’s a small price to pay if you need the newest version of the PlayStation 5, but it’s still confusing as to why it couldn’t be included in the box. Maybe the box has 30% less volume too, so they just couldn’t fit it inside?

The new PlayStation 5 model will be available to purchase in Holiday 2023, and you can read more about it in the official Sony PlayStation blog post.