While the shortage of PlayStation 5 should be just a bad memory in 2023 (see our CES 23 news > PlayStation 5, end of the shortage? Really?), marking at the same time the beginning of its true commercial career, many specialists in the video game sector are predicting the imminence of a PS5 Pro, like the PS4 Pro which appeared three years after the launch of the PS4.
PS5 with separate optical drive in 2023?
Tom Henderson, via his twitter account, debunks this hypothesis. If he confirms that a new PS5 is indeed planned for 2023, as he had already predicted last year (see our news New PS5 with external 4K Ultra HD Blu‑Ray drive, it becomes clearer…), he is campaigning for a new console without an optical drive, which can be purchased later. Thus, Sony would simplify its hardware offer with a single console model and not two as currently (Digital Edition and Standard Edition), but without any real change in design.
PS5 Pro too expensive in store?
Next, Tom Henderson explains that designing a PS5 Pro in these times of shortage of silicon and components, the latter now being marketed at significantly higher prices than before, would prove extremely tricky except at offer a PS5 Pro at a prohibitive price. In short, what seemed possible in a PS5 “road map†defined before the health crisis is no longer possible today. Finally, he indicates that, lately in the middle of the video game, he has mainly heard of the PS6 to the detriment of a PS5 Pro.
PS6 objective in 2025/2026 without going through the PS5 Pro box?
Of course, his statements are to be taken with a grain of salt, but it must be admitted that his speech is a matter of common sense in view of the still tense situation in the electronic components industry and that his argument holds up perfectly. Especially when you keep in mind that the titles marketed on PS5 since its launch do not really use all the resources of the machine, the developers still favoring the huge PS4 installed base. Another consequence of the shortage of PS5 in stores... In short, Sony could therefore step over the PS5 Pro stage and directly target the PS6 by 2025 or 2026, which gives development studios time to get all the quintessence of the PS5.
