DF Weekly: Beyond Astro Bot, how can Sony market a PS5 Pro?
Last week, Sony delivered its latest State of Play and while there were a wealth of new games revealed - many of which look promising - one question remains. How is Sony intending to launch PlayStation 5 Pro if the only key triple-A exclusive launching in the same time period is Astro Bot? Make no mistake - as you'll see in this week's DF Direct Weekly - we see Team Asobi's next offering as one of the highlights of the year, but it's not quite the juggernaut release that's going to sell consoles.However, maybe we're missing the point here. Going into the PS5 Pro project, Sony would have been well aware that the concept of an enhanced console had been proven - but this time the firm has real data on how many sales it should expect. It's generally accepted that both Xbox One S/Xbox One X and PS4/PS4 Pro had an 80/20 split between base and enhanced consoles. That's a niche then, albeit a fairly substantial one when you're dealing with millions of units, and depending on pricing, I'd expect sales to continue along similar lines.There's a good argument that the PS5 Pro may not have the same appeal as its predecessor, which leaned heavily into the 4K HDR capabilities of then-new screens. However, one might equally argue that a new display would only be on the shopping list for a niche audience anyway. The people who wanted a best-of-the-best PlayStation experience in 2016 will be the same people who want the same thing with PS5 Pro in 2024. Read more
Last week, Sony delivered its latest State of Play and while there were a wealth of new games revealed - many of which look promising - one question remains. How is Sony intending to launch PlayStation 5 Pro if the only key triple-A exclusive launching in the same time period is Astro Bot? Make no mistake - as you'll see in this week's DF Direct Weekly - we see Team Asobi's next offering as one of the highlights of the year, but it's not quite the juggernaut release that's going to sell consoles.
However, maybe we're missing the point here. Going into the PS5 Pro project, Sony would have been well aware that the concept of an enhanced console had been proven - but this time the firm has real data on how many sales it should expect. It's generally accepted that both Xbox One S/Xbox One X and PS4/PS4 Pro had an 80/20 split between base and enhanced consoles. That's a niche then, albeit a fairly substantial one when you're dealing with millions of units, and depending on pricing, I'd expect sales to continue along similar lines.
There's a good argument that the PS5 Pro may not have the same appeal as its predecessor, which leaned heavily into the 4K HDR capabilities of then-new screens. However, one might equally argue that a new display would only be on the shopping list for a niche audience anyway. The people who wanted a best-of-the-best PlayStation experience in 2016 will be the same people who want the same thing with PS5 Pro in 2024.
