Sony's PS5 will not be cheap, but company CEO Jim Ryan said the price of the next-generation console will be worth the premium.

Ryan told Gamesindustry.biz that he expects the PS5 to sell well despite the economic pressures that many countries around the world are under due to the coronavirus outbreak. However, this indicates that the PS5 could be considerably more expensive than the PS4 at launch.

"I think the best way to address this [economic] challenge is to offer the best possible value proposition. It doesn't necessarily mean the lowest price.

"Recent history shows that gaming is one of those pastimes and businesses that benefit from economically challenging times.

Previous rumors have put the price of the PS5 between $450 and $500. This has led to speculation that Microsoft is holding off on revealing the price of the Xbox Series X until Sony reveals the price of the PS5, since it is expected to be about $100 less than Sony's next-generation console.

Given the excitement around next-generation consoles, one could argue that they are likely to appeal to many Xbox and PlayStation fans, regardless of price. However, which machine will come out on top will depend on the balance between cost and cost-effectiveness.

Ryan believes that PlayStation's strength lies in its games: "Value is a combination of many things. In our area, that means games, the number of games, the depth of games, the breadth of games, the quality of games, the price of games ...... All of these and how they utilize the feature set of the platform.

Given that the PS4 has acclaimed exclusives like "God of War," "Bloodborne," "The Last of Us," and the upcoming "The Last of Us 2," Ryan and Sony are leading the next generation of consoles with exclusive It is not hard to understand why the PlayStation's reputation for games is so heavily relied upon. Sony has scheduled a PS5 game showcase for Thursday, June 4, so let's see what they have to offer.

Microsoft's Xbox division definitely does not have a history of exclusive games. However, where the Xbox Series X could offer value is in the services offered on top of the console, such as Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, Xbox Live, and the ability to play Xbox games on a Windows 10 PC. The Xbox Series X also has the PS5's offers 12 teraflops of computing power, compared to the PS5's 10.28 teraflops, putting it head and shoulders above the PS5.

It is still too early to correctly predict which console will come out on top. However, the Xbox Series X and PS5 are about to usher in a very interesting next generation of console gaming.