The PS5 may get a Pro version with improved specs and performance, says Sony. The company has confirmed that thePS5 release datewill be in holiday 2020, but it seems that Sony is also thinking about its plans for the console years after launch.
Speaking toGame Informer, Executive Vice President of hardware engineering and operation at Sony Interactive Entertainment Masayusu Ito said that, while the life cycle of a new console had typically been seven to 10 years, because of the “very rapid development and evolution of technology, it’s really a six to seven year platform cycle.” Ito also revealed thatSonyis looking at the PS5 life cycle as six-to-seven years and the company “should be able to change the hardware itself and try to incorporate advancements in technology.”
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Sony has tried to do this with the PS4, said Ito. Ito said that the “test case” of this idea of shorter console life cycles with hardware refreshes was thePS4 Pro, which launched several years after the release of the PS4. The PS4 Pro is a more powerful console and allowed players to enjoy 4K graphics in games such asRise of the Tomb Raider,Red Dead Redemption 2, andShadow of the Colossus.
Ito isn’t officially confirming that a PS5 Pro console will be released, but it does seem as though Sony has put some thought into it. Sony hasn’t revealed sales figures just for the PS4 Pro, but thePS4 is one of the best-selling games consoles in history, and what the company did with the PS4 Pro will have helped it reach that figure. The PS4 Pro also helped Sony fight off competition against the Xbox One X, which was Microsoft’s own powerful mid-cycle console. This could all support the idea of releasing a PS5 Pro.
If Sony does choose to release a PS5 Pro, then it isn’t the only company thinking about making two consoles for the next-generation. There have also been rumors that Microsoft is planning two consoles in Xbox Project Scarlett. The rumors say that there will be Anaconda, a more powerful console, and Lockhart, a more affordable console that doesn’t have a disc drive. Microsoft and Sony’s two next-generation consoles will be going after two different audiences, but it does mean that fans have more choice in how they enjoy next-generation games.
