Sony apparently had big plans for the PlayStation 5 that may require gamers to buy a PlayStation 5 Pro eventually.
In an interview with Variety, PlayStation CEO Hideaki Nishino explained how they set about planning the PlayStation 5 Pro. Quoting the Variety interview:
“So we started working on PS5 Pro even before PS5 launches — it was another five-year project for us. So there was a conversation around whether we wanted to do another Pro or not. But the main thing was, there are technologies we can grow up in three years’ time or five years’ time.”
Nishino then went on to talk about the rapid pace of development, and how that guided their decision to move forward with the mid generation upgrade of their console.
He then went on to say this:
“I think it was great to see people talking about it. Like year three, usually, the conversation around the gaming console comes down, so people are shifting the conversation more to the next gen, or something like that. But we’re kind of happy to see, like most engaged gaming users are interested in the PS5 Pro, and then I’m pretty sure new users will grab the PS5 Pro as well.
If it’s the PlayStation you want to get, that’s the thing. So that’s where we designed the generation at this moment. We design everything with having one ahead in our mind. It’s not like we just make a next step and we don’t know about the two steps ahead. That’s not our way of working, because we need to make sure that the 10-year-old, generation cycle continues to be going as well.”
It certainly makes sense that Sony was already planning the PlayStation 5 Pro around the time they released the PlayStation 5. At the launch of that console, they had to make decisions on what components and technology they would pack into it, and they already knew what limitations it had. So, of course they already knew what parts and technology they could upgrade to raise performance, while staying in budget.
But the real shocker here is that Sony was planning to give the PlayStation 5 a full ten-year generation life cycle. That means the time when we could feel a real generational leap from PlayStation to PlayStation 2 in the span of five years is long gone.
While the PlayStation 5 Pro is prohibitively expensive now, Sony may be planning to drop the price in time, as they make new models with even cheaper SKUs. So that’s more food for thought for you; since Sony wants to keep going with the PlayStation 5 until 2029 or 2030, you are incentivized not to buy now, and wait for when it’s a more worthwhile investment.
We don’t think Microsoft will change their plans from this revelation; they probably already knew what Sony was planning. But if Microsoft themselves planned to move on to a new console generation in the next five years, they have their chance to leapfrog Sony and compete hard with their Xbox once again.
It would be a very similar position to what Nintendo is in, who start and end their generations at a different time than Sony and Microsoft now. The original Switch allowed them to catch up to the tech and games of their peers immediately, and the Switch 2 is expected to be capable of running at least PlayStation 4 / Xbox One generation games, if not more.
Sony’s decision may also stem from other factors, such as a more pressing need to finish and all the games in the pipeline now before moving on to a new console generation. In any case, as we know, being frontrunner in console sales no longer guarantees success in this industry.
Sony’s choices will require that they accomplish a lot of things to stay successful, such as convincing everyone who has a PlayStation 5 and a PlayStation 4 now to upgrade to a PlayStation 5 Pro. And all of that may not be helpful in the end, if they aren’t selling enough of their games at the high budgets and production values they place on them.
So we’ll see in time how Sony manages the PlayStation 5 Pro, after all their high income customers are all satisfied and sales start to dip. They have the reputation and loyalty of their hardcore fans to pull it off, but as we know, they don’t have all the puzzle pieces assembled quite yet.
