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The announcement of the PlayStation 5 Pro makes everyone angry

It is official, the The gaming world's worst-kept secret came true this year with Sony's announcement of the PlayStation 5 Pro. In a pre-recorded presentation broadcast live on PlayStation's YouTube channel, PS5 chief architect Mark Cerny laid out the new future prospects of the updated version of Sony's current generation console, as well as its astronomical prices in global markets.

The presentation itself is relatively short, clocking in at less than 10 minutes, but Cerny devoted the first third to explaining the features that made the original PlayStation 5 (launched in 2020) a powerful console, including its fast GPU and ray-traced lighting effects. From there, Cerny laid out the key tenets of the latest version of the console, dubbed “The Big Three.”

According to the video, the big three consist of a larger GPU, advanced ray tracing, and AI-driven upscaling, but only the third appears to be a new feature beyond simply increasing the console's speed and processing power. The big selling point is increasing both the resolution of games (targeting 4K) and their frame rate (targeting 60 frames per second), without having to choose between Fidelity or Performance mode, as most current PS5 games require.

Priced at $699.99 in North America, the PS5 Pro is nearly $200 more expensive than the existing model.

The reactions on the Internet were predominantly negative and many fans and industry leaders expressed their displeasure on X (formerly Twitter).

Some pointed out the disappointment that the PS5 Pro only targets 60 fps, a feature that was heavily touted but not always achieved on the original PS5.

Others were confused by the juxtaposition, the quality of which was often difficult for some viewers to discern, despite Cerny's explanations of how detailed distant objects would be with the new, higher power.

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A major sticking point was the radical price hike of the console, especially after recent cost increases of the standard PS5 hardware in Japan and North America. The new PS5 Pro appears to be sold without basic features of the base model, such as the internal UHD Blu-ray disc player or even the vertical stand that comes packed in every box. Both are now sold separately, further increasing the overall price above the suggested retail price.

In European markets, the console's price is also disproportionately higher at €799.99, leading to the realization that it may actually be cheaper to buy a North American device and have it shipped to the EU than to buy one domestically.

After a turbulent few weeks for Sony, whose failed multiplayer shooter “Concord” went offline after just two weeks – the same day that the exclusive “Astro Bot” launched to the biggest acclaim for the brand in its history – some users poked fun at the shocking effect the company's decisions had on fans.

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Sony hasn't made any announcements regarding ceasing production of the current PlayStation 5 models, but following trends from previous mid-generation upgrades like 2013's PlayStation 4 Pro, the standard console will likely remain available as a cheaper entry-level option for those unwilling to pay for the top edition.

Sony's PlayStation 5 Pro will be launched on November 7, 2024.

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