As rumored for months, Sony has confirmed the release of the PlayStation 5 Pro, or PS5 Pro. The console will be released on November 7, 2024, for the price of $699.99 in the US.
In a post on the official PlayStation blog, Sony reveals the PS5 Pro is meant to give gamers better graphics while running games at 60fps. Mark Cerny, the lead hardware architect for the PlayStation division, stated in a video introducing the PS5 Pro that three-quarters of PS5 players prefer playing games in Performance Mode, with 60fps at the expense of graphical fidelity. With the PS5 Pro, the goal was to offer gamers high frame rates, but with better graphics and detail.
Sony says they have accomplished this with three major features in the PS5 Pro:
- Upgraded GPU: With PS5 Pro, we are upgrading to a GPU that has 67% more Compute Units than the current PS5 console and 28% faster memory. Overall, this enables up to 45% faster rendering for gameplay, making the experience much smoother.
- Advanced Ray Tracing: We’ve added even more powerful ray tracing that provides more dynamic reflection and refraction of light. This allows the rays to be cast at double, and at times triple, the speeds of the current PS5 console.
- AI-Driven Upscaling: We’re also introducing PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution, an AI-driven upscaling that uses a machine learning-based technology to provide super sharp image clarity by adding an extraordinary amount of detail.
A number of PS5 games will be updated to get the most out of the new PS5 Pro hardware. They will be identified with a PS5 Pro Enhanced branding label. The games will include:
- Alan Wake 2
- Assassin’s Creed: Shadows
- Demon’s Souls
- Dragon’s Dogma 2
- Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth
- Gran Turismo 7
- Hogwarts Legacy
- Horizon Forbidden West
- Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
- Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
- The Crew Motorfest
- The First Descendant
- The Last of Us Part II Remastered
The console will also have PS5 Pro Game Boost, which can boost the performance of backward-compatible PS4 games. It will also have Enhanced Image Quality to increase the resolution of PS4 games. The PS5 Pro will also have Wi-Fi 7 hardware inside, along with support for Variable Refresh Rates for supported TVs, and even support for 8K gaming.
It will also have a 2TB SSD, but it will not have an onboard disk drive. People who want that will have to purchase the Disc Drive for PS5 add-on.
Pricing for other territories will be £699.99 in the UK, €799.99 for the European Union, and ¥119,980 for Japan. Preorders will begin on September 26.