Buying a Refurbished PS5 Is Your Best Bet for a More Affordable Way to Play GTA 6 This November

If you're staring at the price of a new PS5 and wondering whether playing GTA 6 this November is really worth $600 or more , I'd strongly recommend looking at refurbished consoles before you do anything else.

There's simply not much value in paying full price for a brand-new PS5 right now. Sony's current pricing puts the PS5 Digital Edition at $599.99 and the disc-drive model at $649.99, while the PS5 Pro costs a frankly ridiculous $899.99.

That's a lot of money to spend if GTA 6 is the main reason you're finally jumping into the current generation. Thankfully, a reputable refurbished console can knock a meaningful chunk off that price without having to wait around for a potential price cut over Black Friday .

PlayStation 5 - Digital Edition 1TB - Certified Refurbished

My first stop right now would be PlayStation Direct , where Sony is selling certified refurbished PS5 consoles directly through its own store.

The refurbished PS5 is currently $549 , while the refurbished PS5 Digital Edition is $499 . That makes the latter particularly interesting if you're starting from scratch and don't have a collection of physical PS5 or PS4 games sitting on your shelf.

The $499 price puts it $100 below a brand-new PS5 Digital Edition, and you're getting the newer slimline design with 1TB of storage. For someone buying a console primarily to play GTA 6, that's a pretty compelling proposition.

There's nothing to fear with refurb consoles either, as, according to Sony, it'll work like new : "Every PlayStation certified refurbished product completes a rigorous recertification process that includes full testing that meets the same functional standards as new PlayStation products. Your certified refurbished product works like new."

There's another reason I'd be tempted by the Digital Edition specifically. Sony has announced plans to stop producing physical game discs for new PlayStation releases from January 2028, so we're already heading towards a future where physical games are becoming less central to the PlayStation ecosystem.

That doesn't mean physical games are suddenly going away, and I'd still recommend the disc-drive PS5 to anyone who regularly buys used games, hunts for physical discounts, borrows games from friends, or has an existing collection.

But if you're starting with a completely blank slate and GTA 6 is the game you're buying the console for, saving that additional $50 with the refurbished Digital Edition is worth considering.

Best Buy Has an Even Cheaper Refurbished PS5

Free $50 Best Buy Gift Card with GTA 6 + Console Purchase

PlayStation Direct isn't your only option, either. Best Buy is currently selling a refurbished PS5 for $539.99 , making it another option worth considering if you want a disc drive.

It's worth knowing exactly what you're getting here, though. This is the original 2020 PS5, with an 825GB SSD, rather than the newer slimline 1TB model sold by PlayStation Direct.

If you want the cheapest possible route into GTA 6 and don't care about physical games, I'd go for the $499 refurbished PS5 Digital Edition from PlayStation Direct . If you want a disc drive, the $539.99 Best Buy model is the cheaper option , although you're buying older hardware.

There's also a little extra incentive at Best Buy right now. The retailer is offering a $50 reward certificate when you buy GTA 6 alongside an eligible PS5 or Xbox console.

That effectively takes the sting out of the price, although I'd be careful about treating a reward certificate as the same thing as an upfront discount. You still have to spend the money initially, and the $50 comes back as Best Buy credit rather than cash.

For anyone looking to save a little extra on the PS5 Pro, there's also "Open Box" options available at Best Buy from $800.99 for a "Fair" condition, $827.99 "Good", and $854.99 "Excellent" condition . PS5 Pro consoles look pretty hard to find at most other retailers right now, so you'd be better off buying one now rather than later.

I'd also suggest considering this $100 PlayStation Gift Card for just $95 right now at Amazon (Prime members only), effectively taking $5 off the GTA 6 Ultimate Edition. It's not a massive saving, but if you were gonna drop 100 big ones on GTA already, it's $5 back for effectively no extra effort.

$100 PlayStation Store Gift Card [Digital Code]

Robert Anderson is a Senior Commerce Editor for IGN. Based in London, UK, he is a qualified journalist with a First Class degree in BA Journalism and over seven years of professional writing and editing experience.

You can usually find him lost in open-world RPG games like Elden Ring and Cyberpunk 2077 , or tinkering in Planet Coaster and Two Point Museum. Outside of gaming, he enjoys reading comics (especially Superman, Batman, and Spider-Man), taking photos, and keeping up with the latest in film and TV.