For ten years my job has consisted of following news in the video game industry, testing consoles and analyzing manufacturers’ strategies. Since my first steps on the Game Boy Color, there have obviously been many upheavals in the JV: some happy, others making me want to shout at a cloud like Abe Simpson. The release of the PS5 Pro marks a decisive turning point which will fall into the latter category.
Buy the PS5 Pro at the best price here
Behind the desire to offer a console with increased power, lies a more complex reality that could permanently transform the video game market.
A technical power that wants to impose
Sony wants to make its PS5 Pro the most powerful console on the market. The Japanese therefore promises a GPU displaying 67% additional processing units and 28% faster memory compared to the base model. An increase supposed to result in a performance gain of 45% in game rendering.
Ray tracingtechnology which revolutionizes lighting effects, is also benefiting from an evolution. The PS5 Pro processes these rays up to three times faster than its big sister. The aim here: to make reflections in water, metallic surfaces or even transparency effects ever more realistic.
It wouldn’t really be a tech product release in 2024 without a little artificial intelligence. The PS5 Pro integrates PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution (PSSR). This upscaling technology, based on AI, allows the console to generate ultra-sharp images in 4K while maintaining optimal performance.
A technical tour de force already present on the PC market for a long time with Nvidia’s DLSS. A technique that will undoubtedly become the standard in the years to come.
A transformation on the verge of the invisible which questions
Sony has chosen minimalist communication for the launch of the PS5 Pro. An ad that was sent with a video less than 10 minutes long. A choice which is not trivial since during this demonstration, the manufacturer is obliged to carry out numerous zooms in order to discover real visual improvements.
In real conditions, these more advanced graphics require paying close attention to what is happening on the screen. Regularly stopping playing to approach the TV while trying to find a graphical improvement is not natural behavior when playing normally.
The most notable gain remains the increase from 30 to 60 FPS on certain display modes, a performance that the standard PS5 could already achieve by sacrificing certain graphic details.
Spider-Man and the Last of Us
Spider-Man 2 is one of the games optimized for the PS5 Pro and serves as the perfect technological showcase for the console. On our screenshots between PS5 and PS5 Pro, it is possible to see the improved reflections and ray tracing pushed to its maximum on buildings.
The game still has a loyalty mode and a performance mode, quite identical to those of the PS5 version. The choice is between 30 and 60 FPS, with more or less in-depth graphic elements. Once again, you’ll really have to have a keen eye to see the visual improvements brought by the PS5 Pro.
The Last of Us II Remastered is also an optimized title. From its launch on PS5 Pro, the game asks us to activate PRO rendering mode, targeting 60 FPS with super sampled output in 4K by PSSR. Here, the graphical improvements are imperceptible in use.
With the graphics of the standard PS5 already being exceptional, were such minimal improvements really necessary to enjoy the titles? Knowing that most Sony fans targeted by this PS5 Pro will have already played compatible games, the answer seems rather clear to me here.
Developers to follow the approach of the PS5 Pro?
The list of games compatible with the improvements offered by the PS5 Pro is already substantial. Only, my tests revealed visual differences too minor to justify such a price difference between Sony’s new console and its big sister.
Given the impressive fleet of PS5s already installed, there is little chance that developers outside of Sony’s studios will really bother to produce titles where the differences will be truly significant.
Let’s still give Sony the benefit of the doubt, saying that, if the PS5 Pro currently doesn’t really make sense, its extra power will perhaps have real use in the years to come.
The PS5 Pro, the tipping point of a hegemonic industry
Nintendo which is not racing for power, Microsoft and its console sales which are plunging into abysmal depths: here is a quick summary of the current state of the JV industry among the biggest manufacturers.
Suffice it to say that gamers looking for a powerful console now have no real choice but to turn to Sony. With undeniable success, the Japanese giant is monopolizing an entire market. With particularly weakened direct competition, it is easy to impose one’s conditions as well as abusive prices.
18 years after trying to impose a PS3 at a price of 600 euros, the release of the PS5 Pro also recalls that of the iPhone range. Sony appears to be following a similar strategy, paving the way for a PS6 that we can imagine has a base price similar to that of the PS5 Pro.
Remember that this is 799.99 euros without counting the potential purchase of the disc player costing 119.99 euros.
The PS5 Pro and the world of everything dematerialized
Here is my perfect transition in order to evoke the dematerialized everything strategy that Sony is implementing with this PS5 Pro. When the basic PS5 and the Slim left the choice between a version with disc reader or not, the PS5 Pro doesn’t offer this luxury.
Here, only a dematerialized version is offered for purchase. In order to be able to read your games in physical format (which means owning your games and not a user license), you will have to manage to obtain the reader sold separately. I chose the word sorting out intentionally here, since for several weeks, this famous reader has been constantly out of stock.
It’s difficult to know here if players have robbed stocks in preparation for purchasing a PS5 Pro, or if Sony is making its distribution hungry with the intention of forcing the player to switch to everything dematerialized. A strategy that aims to eliminate intermediaries, and therefore increase profits.
However, this also means for the consumer that they will no longer have the chance to own a physical version of their games; collection, resale and second-hand purchases will only be a distant memory. We must also not forget that ironically, dematerialized versions cost on average 20% more.
Our opinion on the PS5 Pro
The PS5 Pro is symptomatic of the graphics glass ceiling that Sony’s consoles have reached since the release of the PS4 more than 10 years ago now.
The differences between the machines are only slightly significant compared to previous generationswhich did not need zoomed videos to demonstrate the proposed developments.
Acquiring the PS5 Pro is more than just a purchasing decision. It’s a vote of confidence in a specific vision of video games. So, I appeal to your common sense in order to weigh this purchase, which offers few advantages (for the moment or in any case) compared to the PS5/Slim available for 370 euros less including the reader disk.
Buy the PS5 Pro at the best price here
The launch of the PS5 Pro undeniably marks a turning point in the history of video games with major long-term implications for the industry. It’s up to us, players, to decide whether we want to support this new direction or not.
PS5 Pro
€799.99
We love
- A more compact format than the standard PS5
- The 2 TB of storage
- Constant fluidity in 4K 60 FPS on optimized games
We like less
- A price that is difficult to justify compared to the visible improvements
- Visual differences that are difficult to notice in normal gaming situations
- The worrying acceleration towards an entirely dematerialized model
- The risk of normalization of high-priced premium consoles
