Thomas Dietrich
Sony’s PlayStation 5 celebrated its second anniversary last month. Numerous restrictions in the supply chain repeatedly thwarted the availability of the PS5 in the first few months. In the meantime it has gotten better and the sales figures for the console are stabilizing. However, amidst some rumors about the development of the PlayStation 6, Sony seems to be preparing the market for the release of the PS5 Pro first.
Ahead of the PS5’s launch, there were several teasers and promises of native 8K gaming at up to 120fps. But the fact is that the console can’t even do 4K at 60fps without making compromises. This becomes even more difficult when ray tracing, one of the big buzzwords in the gaming scene, is activated. Also, few games really try to explore the potential of current hardware. So far, the last two years have been marked by cross-gen titles, largely due to the difficulty of getting hold of a new-gen console. The first true next-gen games are expected in 2023. In addition, Sony is apparently preparing a new PS5 Pro to play these games with maximum performance.
PS5 Pro is coming next year
According to a recent report, the launch of the PS5 Pro could take place in fiscal year 2023. The information comes from Hideaki Nishino, a Sony senior vice president. During an interview, the executive shared some of the company’s plans for the future. He would not be allowed to give any in-depth details at the moment, but suggested new releases for the company’s next fiscal year 2023 – which starts in April.
“Until the end of fiscal 2022, the sales of the PS5 will cross the 37 million mark. We believe that will also be an important moment for the platform. I can’t give further details right now, but I hope you’re excited about the next year.”
Hideaki Nishino, Sony Senior Vice President
Oddly enough, the news about new PS5 hardware comes right after some rumors from Tom Henderson. The well-known industry insider explained that a new removable-disk model “works perfectly”. He further indicated that the new model is already at the hands of some developers. Sony currently sells the console in two versions – a purely digital model and a second with an optical drive.
According to the reports, Sony is preparing a new version with a removable drive. This would allow the Japanese to offer the console at a lower price and those who need it can buy the drive separately. In addition, Sony could also reduce the size of the console.
PS5 Pro, PS5 Slim
So far, very few games get the maximum performance out of the PS5 hardware. However, it’s clear that the console couldn’t handle all the next-gen features at once anyway. In most cases you have to choose between the maximum resolution or a stable frame rate. Similarly, enabling ray tracing will limit other aspects of the hardware as well. Ray tracing is a hugely resource-demanding technology that consoles need to adapt to. Without a hardware revision, it will hardly be possible to keep up with industry standards.
In the PS4 days, we saw the rise of 4K gaming. In 2016, the company introduced a Pro variant for its console for the first time in the history of the PlayStation. The PlayStation 4 Pro promised better performance in games, including 4K resolution. In fact, the console only managed a dynamic resolution between 2K and 4K. But for the first time, the console reached 60 fps in most games.
A possible PS5 Slim would follow the tradition of the company. Since the days of the PS One, the company has been known for releasing slim, compact versions of its consoles. The PS4 got its Slim version along with the Pro variant in 2016. The PS5 is a massive console, so a slim variant would make a lot of sense here. Together with the removable drive, the slim version would make even more sense – if you need it, you can buy the external drive as well.
PS6 is coming in the near future
In addition to all these rumors about a PS5 Pro, there are also some hints of the PS6 launch. We’re still a few years away from Sony’s next console, but the company is reportedly already in the planning stages for the new model.
