PS5 Pro launch divides fans: “It’s the price not the product that offends people”

“They are literally locking the good performance mode behind a £700 paywall"

The PS5 Pro launched today (November 7) and the divisive console has split the playerbase.

• READ MORE: Has gaming outpriced the average player?

Announced earlier this year, the PS5 Pro is the mid-cycle upgrade on the standard PlayStation 5 and comes with a number of technical improvements to make games look prettier. These include an upgraded GPU, advanced ray tracing and AI-driven upscaling, with Sony describing it as the “most advanced and innovative console hardware to date”.

However, fans were shocked Sony were charging £699.99 for the upgraded console, especially when the discless PS5 retails for £389.99. Defending the price tag, PlayStation senior principal project manager Toshi Aoki said they were only targeting “the most engaged” players. “It’s more of a full package that will give that exceptional value,” he added. The PS5 Pro launched today and, as expected, the console has split the fanbase.

Over 50 titles have received special PS5 Pro upgrades to make the most of the console and players have taken to social media to showcase the improved graphics and gameplay.

Recommended

However, other fans have said the console is too expensive and even if it is only targeted at a small number of players, the high price tag sets a worrying precedent when it comes to the next generation of consoles.

“It’s the price, not the product that offends people,” wrote one fan on Reddit. “You also have to understand this is Sony testing the market. If people don’t say anything, it’s just going to give more reason to make the next gen console pricier and come without a disk drive,” added another fan.

“My problem isn’t that this exists. My problem is that this exists when they haven’t put any effort into utilizing the initial hardware,” said one player. “That’s precisely why I’m a bit upset about the Pro release at this moment. It’s like a DLC for something that could have been there since the initial release,” replied another. “They are literally locking the good performance mode behind a $700 paywall,” wrote a third.

A number of fans just aren’t interested in the back and forth though. “It’ll be a cold day in hell before I explain/justify why I’m buying a PS5 Pro (or anything else) to some random nobody on the internet,” said one fan on X.

In other news, Nintendo has confirmed that the Switch 2 will definitely be backwards compatible, but there is still no release date for the new console.