The PlayStation 5 has been announced, and it has come with a wave of speculation. There are a huge number of rumors about the PS5, and the truth will come closer to the launch of the console. Whilst players have been sifting through the stories and rumors, they will have likely heard about the PlayStation 5 Pro. To some, this may sound like a great idea, some players may just want a slim console, but the ultimate question is whether launching a Pro console alongside a standard is a good idea.
The PlayStation 4 had a Pro, slim and standard, all of which appealed to players for different reasons. As would be expected, PlayStation 5’s tech demo has been called ‘hugely impressive’. That will be enough for some players, yet others will want the best console possible from Sony. In those terms, it is up to the individual whether the PS5 Pro is worth lightening their wallet. Without a confirmed release of a PS5 Pro, what’s really up for debate is whether such an iteration of the console would be a good idea for Sony.
Sony presents its sales of the PlayStation 4 often without differentiating their builds. With this in mind, the 100 million units Sony has shipped may not be reflective of how well the Pro has performed. This generations console has had such an impact that many will want Sony to be sure about how backwards compatibility works on the PS5, so they can continue to enjoy the games. This ties in with NPD data that states how these newer builds fluctuated the standard cycle of console sales, making predictions for what would happen at launch near impossible.
Most consoles follow a normalised curve. At the end of this cycle, a new console is usually released. However, the Pro and Xbox One X changed this dramatically and debunked standard projections. For example, the PS4 surpassed sales of the previous generations Xbox 360 in a few years, and the PS4’s record-breaking sales suggests that this disruption was in a positive direction for Sony. In these terms, the Pro was an excellent venture. Yet, timing helped the PS4 Pro, and if the PS5 Pro is released with the standard PlayStation 5, then the build won’t likely have the same impact on the market.
The PS4 Pro came out three years after the original PS4, and it benefited the console greatly as Xbox brought heavy competition. The Xbox One X promised to deliver significantly better specs than the PS4, yet the release of the PS4 Pro prior to the One X managed to subdue a serious competitor with relatively similar specs. This isn’t to say that the PS4 Pro was deliberately released to compete with the One X, but it certainly increased the longevity of the PS4 when players may have wanted a higher grade console.
Rumors suggest that the Pro would release at the same time as the standard PlayStation 5. Naturally, this wouldn’t provide a boost to sales at the midpoint of the console’s shelf life. Also, if players have to decide which build to get from the launch of the console, they are far less likely to want a new build after already committing to one. The Pro was an upgrade as players interest possibly waned in their console. Releasing the two builds would likely lead to strong initial sales that would follow the normalized curve that consoles have previously followed prior to this generation, and it’s hard to predict which would do more: the supped up, more expensive PS5 Pro or the more competitive and consume-friendly PS5.
Eventually, there could be a step above a Pro, in which case it would make sense for Sony to release the Pro and standard PS5 at the same time. If there is no level above the Pro, it would be considerably more expensive than the standard edition and would have to battle for the attention of PC gamers. This would be a bold move that may not pay off. There has been some information about the PS5’s specs, yet how these specs will be received by the market and how much they would differ from the PS5 Pro remains to be seen.
A great build and perfect timing led to the success of the PS4 Pro. If Sony can replicate that, then the result is great for the company and the players. If not, Sony may have a more expensive console that isn’t selling the units it should. With that said, there is no official word on how many iterations of the PlayStation 5 there will be. While many are certain of what the features the PS5 needs, the market will dictate what happens a few years after the release of the console. The PS5 Pro will be a perfect idea if it’s executed properly, but the wallets of the fans may disagree.
The PlayStation 5 is released in Holiday 2020.
