E3 08: 80GB PS3 coming to Europe

Sony will launch a new 80GB SKU in Europe and PAL territories on August 27th.

The company will phase out the 40GB model, and the new higher capacity machine will cost 299 – or €399 in wider Europe.

SCEE president David Reeves told an exclusively invited PAL crowd in Santa Monica tonight:

"In PAL, we will introduce an 80GB PS3 80Gb on August 27th. It will be a simultaneous launch across all PAL territories, and reach Russia two weeks later, due to compliance issues.

"It will cost 399 Euros or 299. Promotional bundles will arrive between mid-September and mid-December at various prices.

"The 40GB model will be replaced by 80GB. Don’t ask if we’re going to go down in price on 40GB – the answer is no.

"This has been planned by Kaz [Hirai] for months. There are very few 40GB models left – especially in UK. We predict we’ll be out of stock by the time we launch."