The world of technology and video games is very attentive to the PS5 Pro, a console that seems to be real and is in the final phase of production and release. Sony’s idea is to win the console war not only in sales, but also in power.
However, is a mid-generation PS5 Pro necessary when there are hardly any games and the original consoles are still quite powerful in 2024? That’s what we’re going to attempt to answer today in this article.
But before we start, let’s explain what Sony intends to do with this new console that arrives in the middle of the generation to give it the Pro surname to a PlayStation 5 that has beaten Xbox in sales by a landslide.
It’s called Trinity project, for us PS5 Pro
Sony is working on a new “high-end” version of the PS5, codenamed Trinity, which is likely to be released as the PS5 Pro later this year.
The Verge confirmed the leaked specifications about the PS5 Pro earlier this week, and they have also obtained details on how existing and new PS5 games will be “enhanced” to take advantage of the PS5 Pro hardware. Sony is also working on an ultra boost mode for older games to perform better on the PS5 Pro.
Sources familiar with PlayStation’s plans claim that Sony is asking developers to create a new exclusive graphical mode for PS5 Pro in games that combines Sony’s new scaling technology PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution (PSSR) with 4K resolution and a frame rate of 60 fps, along with ray tracing effects. Insider Gaming first reported on some of these enhanced PS5 Pro game details last month.
The goal is to sell a new quality of games: “Improved” label
Although Sony wants this new mode in games, the “Enhanced” tag of PS5 Pro will still be available for more scenarios that also include games at 30fps. Developers have the option to increase the target resolution for PS5 Pro games running at a fixed resolution on PS5 or even increase the maximum target resolution for games running at a variable resolution on PS5.
This could mean that games enhanced for PS5 Pro run at a resolution between 1080p and 1440p at 30 fps on the base PS5 and between 1280p and 2160p on the PS5 Pro at the same frame rate. A fixed resolution increase from 1440p to 2160p would also be considered an enhanced game for PS5 Pro.
Developers could also choose to enable ray tracing effects and obtain the PS5 Pro Enhanced label without improving resolution or frame rate. If a developer wants to achieve 60 fps instead of 30 fps with the same resolution, a game could also be considered enhanced for PS5 Pro.
However, it is not enough to run a game with a more stable frame rate on PS5 Pro to get the Enhanced label. Sony will also not add the label to games that run with a variable resolution and see increased resolution on PS5 Pro without improving the maximum resolution. Therefore, if a game goes from a variable resolution of 1440p-2160p to a variable resolution of 1800p-2160p, it will not be eligible for the Enhanced label.
Developers will have to update their games to the latest Sony SDK to take advantage of the features of PS5 Pro, but some games that have not been updated yet will benefit from better performance on the upcoming console. And it is said that the PS5 Pro will have an “ultra-boost” mode that will help VRR modes work at a higher frame rate, and variable resolution games will be able to render at higher resolutions. It is also possible that the frame rate will be more stable in some games.
However, Sony warns developers that many games without patches will not show improvements in this ultra boost mode. Games that run at a fixed resolution and with a graphic configuration for fixed rendering resolutions will not show improvements. Although developers continue to use previous versions of Sony’s SDK, they will be able to use PSSR to enhance their titles and access the additional system memory that Sony offers to game developers.
The requirements for the PS5 Pro Enhanced label seem very similar to those Sony applied to PS4 Pro, and there is some flexibility for developers to choose what they want to improve.
But, does a PS5 Pro make sense?
Here I speak on my own behalf, as a technology expert and analyst who has been doing console and video game reviews for almost a decade, and I tell you that I don’t believe it.
Both the PlayStation 5 and the Xbox Series X are two very powerful consoles with internal hardware that has not become obsolete after almost four years on the market. Unlike what happened with the PS4 and the Xbox One, which were launched in 2013 with a CPU and GPU power even low for the time, the PS5 and the Xbox Series X were launched in 2020 being equivalent to high-end computers.
The internal hardware of the PS5 has room for improvement and can still offer a lot, as demonstrated by some games that Sony has released exclusively. For example, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart was a graphical marvel and we’re talking about 2021. Or the latest Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, a visual delight.
I believe that it is wiser for Sony to focus its efforts on developing video games that fully utilize the console’s potential and make owning a PS5 worthwhile (Sony’s journey in the desert over the past two years and what lies ahead until 2025 has been quite painful), rather than wasting money on an upgraded console that only a few games will truly benefit from (and even fewer players will appreciate).
This move seems more like something designed to win the battle of raw power (which Xbox Series X won at its launch) and thus be the best place to play GTA 6, a game that can sell millions of consoles over the next few years.
