For some time rumors have circulated about the upcoming Playstation 5. Nearly everything from specs and features to games have been “leaked” at one point or another. Some of these leaks have had more validity than the others, but all of them should be taken with a grain of salt. What most concerns consumers aren’t specs and features, both of which appear to be either on par with or lagging slightly behind the upcoming Xbox, but pricing followed closely by games.

Xbox One’s infamous $500 price tag coupled with a slew of other bad decisions led to the reigning US console being toppled by the cheaper more powerful Playstation 4. As if an ancient Greek comedy or a twist straight out of Shakespeare we now have Sony poised to become what Xbox was at the beginning of this console generation. Pricing their consoles at $500 where as Microsoft is rumored to be dropping their latest poorly named, but more power Series X console at $400.

Until now that was merely a rumor, but Bloomberg is now reporting the upcoming console will cost $450 to manufacture driving Sony to have to price their console at least at $470.

Two important caveats to consider. Firstly Bloomberg backs this assertion with nothing other than an inference their sources are claiming as much. Were it not for their “reputable” name I doubt anyone would actually take this assertion seriously without the breakdown or proof such a claim requires. Especially considering the exact specs for the PS5 have not been officially revealed, so there is nothing to base a price estimate on.

Secondly and more importantly Sony retains the option to sell the console at a loss even if the cost projection from Bloomberg is accurate. Equally, there are options to offset the higher cost, such as bundling the console with two launch titles, or just eating the loss and relying on the backward compatibility the console is rumored to have in order to make up the volume of sales via digital purchases with a Playstation Store rebate.

Sony for their part is reported to have not settled on the final price for the console. Likely hoping they can figure some way to get the price down ahead of the official announcement. As of this writing, Sony has not commented on Bloomberg’s report, nor are they likely to do so. Regardless of the validity of Bloomberg’s sources, the news that the PS5 is going to cost close to $500 is another blow to the console’s hype.