Sony delays PlayStation Pulse Elevate speakers days before launch over a production issue

PlayStation’s first wireless speakers are not shipping this week after all. Sony updated its original Pulse Elevate announcement on PlayStation.Blog on November 6 to say that “as part of our ongoing quality testing of Pulse Elevate speakers, we have identified a production issue with the product and have made the decision to delay the launch.” The speakers had been set to launch on Thursday, November 12.

What we know and what we don’t

Sony’s update is short. It says the extra time will make sure the speakers deliver “the experience we intended for our players,” apologizes for the delay, and says it looks forward to bringing them out “soon.” That’s it. There’s no new date, no window, and no explanation of what the production issue is.

There’s also nothing yet for people who already ordered. Pre-orders opened September 1, and as Kotaku notes, Sony hasn’t announced a refund policy or said what happens to those orders. tbreak adds that it’s unclear whether units already built need rework or whether manufacturing itself is the problem.

The speakers themselves

Per Sony’s August update, Pulse Elevate was priced at $219.99, €219.99 or £199.99, in Midnight Black worldwide and White in select markets. The pair connects over PlayStation Link to PS5, PlayStation Portal, PC and Mac, with Bluetooth for other devices, supports Tempest 3D AudioTech on PS5, and has a built-in mic. tbreak notes this delay doesn’t touch Sony’s separate $99.99 Pulse headset, which is still due November 19.

PPR take: Honestly, I’d rather Sony catch a production problem in testing than ship a $220 speaker that crackles out of the box, so the call itself is fine. What isn’t great is the silence around it. Pulling a product six days before launch, with pre-orders sitting out there since September, and not saying a word about refunds or a new window leaves buyers guessing. The timing stings too: a lot of people were clearly hoping to have these set up before GTA 6 lands on November 19. If you pre-ordered, keep an eye on your order status and your retailer’s emails, because Sony hasn’t told anyone what comes next.