This week Sony both unveiled and unleashed the new Astro Bot PlayStation 5 console bundles – both the all-digital and disc versions are now available for purchase at Amazon and elsewhere. What for some might just seem like another cash grab from Sony in hopes of bolstering hardware sales deep into its console cycle is actually quite a notable value. While there are plenty of gamers out there already more than set with the console they already have, if not still targeting a PS5 Pro model instead, the Astro Bot PS5 bundle is one of the best values in PlayStation hardware we have seen in quite a long time.
Astro Bot lands with the mothership – the best value in PS5 consoles in years
At one point in time, anything short of $100 or more off a current-generation PlayStation console was meh at best, entirely passable at best, and borderline offensive to anyone looking to score a deal, us deal hunters included. But those days are long gone folks – we haven’t seen a seriously great deal on the current crop of PlayStation 5 slim consoles in a very long time.
Just about all of 2024 went by with very little opportunities to score a sweet deal on PS5, or at least not one from the major retailers anyone had a good chance to scoop up. Black Friday of course did roll around in mid/late November with a slew of official PlayStation deals, including everything from PS5 games and DualSense controllers through to a series of PS5 bundles – they weren’t bad, but they also weren’t all that exciting or enticing for folks looking to score a standard PS5 slim.
The standard disc drive model dropped from $500 to $430, and there was also a PS5 Slim Digital Edition down from $450 to $375. That’s a max of $75 in savings. Not bad, but not great.
There were also PS5 Slim Digital Fortnite Cobalt Star bundles down at the same $375 including a series of goodies for Fortnite, alongside a digital PS5 bundled with NBA 2K25 for the same $375 – this particular option fetched a regular price at $500 and was arguably the best of all, at least in terms of overall value, providing you care about NBA 2K25.
Not bad, but again not super exciting for just about anyone but Fortnite gamers who almost certainly already had a console (or just play on another platform) and those interested in the value of NBA 2K25.
The Astro Bot bundles, however, are arriving this week with a straight up $50 price drop on the consoles themselves as well as a FREE copy of a relatively new, award-winning $70 title. And not just award-winning, but rather the official 2024 Game of the Year.
- PlayStation 5 Console (Slim) – ASTRO BOT Bundle $450 ($110 in savings)
- PlayStation 5 Digital Edition (Slim) – ASTRO BOT Bundle $400 ($110 in savings)
So while the NBA 2K bundle delivered around $125 in savings, it is arguably far less sought-after or valuable to most than the new Astro Bot packages.
For us, and many folks who might be looking to score a new PS5 Slim right now, be it parents grabbing one for the kids, or just for folks looking to score an additional machine, the Astro Bot bundle represents one of the best values on a PlayStation 5 console in over a year, and potentially even longer than that.
There were some serious price drops available on PS5 in 2023, but the latest slim model (the one you get in the Astro Bot bundles) didn’t even hit the market until Black Friday 2023.
If you’re looking to scoop up a PS5 right now, the $110 in savings on the Astro Bot bundle is a seriously great deal if you ask me. You’re getting what is a very rarely ever discounted PS5 slim at $50 off as well as a top-tier, beloved game for FREE that has really ever only gone on sale once or twice to this point, and never below $40.
The only shame here – you don’t get that sweet Astro Bot Limited Edition DualSense controller, and I’m not happy about it.
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