Key Highlights:
- It’s been nearly a year since the PS5 Pro was launched.
- The console barely has any enhanced games to speak of.
- Whatever upgrades that do exist, do not appear to be worth the $749 asking price.
The PS5 Pro remains a rather intriguing piece of tech, and even what might be considered ‘unnecessary’. This beefier brother of the PlayStation 5 was released back on November 7, 2024 to a rather lukewarm reception.
That being said, Sony did try their best to push the PS5 Pro as the ultimate console gaming platform, offering a series of upgrades specific to the console. Unfortunately, this advantage appears to be quite disappointing and nuanced at best, with barely any impactful additions to speak of. This makes you wonder whether Sony has quietly abandoned the Pro lineup.
The PS5 Pro Barely Has Any Enhanced Games to Speak Of
It’s hard to believe that it has been nearly a year since the PS5 Pro was launched across most markets worldwide. Originally revealed during a rather long, informative presentation by none other than Mark Cerny, the PS5 Pro was promised as a huge step up over the base PS5.
The console also came equipped with a rather baffling price of $749 (which also does not happen to include either the disc drive add-on or stand!), which made it even harder to justify buying.
And then there was MGS Delta where PS5 Pro was arguably the worst place to play the game across the board due to how badly PSSR was implemented.
— Synth Potato🥔 (@SynthPotato) September 14, 2025
Genuinely what is going on? I thought this console was marketed as all future major releases supporting it, I am so disappointed🤦♂️ pic.twitter.com/eTNXhDQxE6
To make matters worse, the PS5 Pro barely has any ‘enhanced’ games to speak of. Two of this month’s major releases have no PS5 Pro enhanced ports and the list grows longer when we consider older titles.
Even when we take into consideration existing PS5 Pro enhanced titles, the improvements appear to be subtle at best, with a few appearing as downgrades instead. The Pro’s use of PSSR (PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution) has seen a fair bit of controversy as well, with many claiming that the tech is half-baked.
This is especially evident in titles such as Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater, where the PS5 Pro version of the game runs (and looks) considerably worse than the regular, PS5 version of the same.
Sony seems to have quietly given up on the PS5 Pro, making it nothing more than an expensive add on that is largely a waste of money. Most gamers would find better value in the base PS5, which still sells a ton of units to this day.
Sony’s PS5 Pro Was Largely Unnecessary
The PS4 Pro was a mid generation refresh, introduced first in 2016. It aimed to bolster the performance of existing PS4 titles, while providing PS4 Pro specific builds that promised better visuals and performance, which it quite certainly delivered on.
Much of this was necessary due to the ageing nature of the PS4, which was released back in 2013. Games were turning out to be a lot more resource hungry, and PlayStation had to find a way to keep up with modern PCs.
Even Xbox followed suit and released the Xbox One X, a similar concept to that of the PS4 Pro. However, Xbox has skipped the mid gen refresh this time around entirely, sticking to the production of the Series X and Series S only.
Also Read: Steam Doesn’t Want Games With Mature Themes in Early Access Anymore
It does make a whole lot of sense when you think about it though. The base PS5 and Xbox Series X still provide a ‘good enough’ experience for a majority of the playerbase, which in turn makes justifying the already expensive PS5 Pro a lot harder.
Coupled with the lack of sufficient Pro enhanced games, and you have a surefire recipe for disaster. Sony might have already thought of the same, and there’s a reason why we don’t see a lot of Pro enhanced titles.
The addition of a Pro variant was largely unnecessary, and Sony should have focused their efforts on securing a proper flagship handheld instead of whatever the PlayStation Portal was supposed to be.
