Sony is reportedly considering a PS5 Pro launch in late 2024 to revive sales, aiming to coincide with GTA 6’s 2025 release. Despite selling over 50 million units, a recent PS5 Slim release and a sales target adjustment to 21 million units for FY 2023 reflect concerns about slowing sales. The Q3 2023 report noted 8.2 million units sold, but the games business saw a 25% decline in operating profit (Sony Set to Release PS5 Pro).
According to reports, Sony is considering the release of a Pro version of the PlayStation 5 later this year to revitalize PS5 sales in the latter part of the current console generation.
Despite selling over 50 million units since its November 2020 launch, PS5 sales have been slowing down, and Sony is anticipated to fall short of its sales target for fiscal year 2023 by four million units (Sony Set to Release PS5 Pro).
Industry analysts informed CNBC that Sony is likely to update its PS5 lineup in 2024, introducing a Pro version with enhanced hardware capabilities, expected to be priced higher than the base PS5.
Serkan Toto, CEO of Tokyo-based games consultancy Kantan Games, stated, “There seems to be a broad consensus in the game industry that Sony is indeed preparing a launch of a PS5 Pro in the second half of 2024.”
Toto further mentioned that the PS5 Pro could be strategically timed for the release of Rockstar Games’ highly anticipated Grand Theft Auto 6, scheduled to arrive in 2025 (Sony Set to Release PS5 Pro).
With the immense anticipation surrounding GTA 6, the game is predicted to significantly impact the gaming industry, potentially providing a crucial boost to PS5 and Xbox Series S/X sales (Sony Set to Release PS5 Pro).
In November of the previous year, Sony introduced a more compact and lighter iteration of the PS5, featuring a slightly increased internal storage capacity and a detachable disc drive.
The PS5 Slim maintains the original console’s processing power, graphical capabilities, and pricing. In contrast, a potential PS5 Pro is anticipated to bring substantial upgrades to the console’s hardware, likely delivering improved framerates at higher resolutions.
It’s noteworthy that Sony has previously followed a similar strategy with the PS4, releasing a pro version approximately three years after the initial launch of the PS4 in November 2013. The enhanced PS4 Pro boasted an upgraded GPU and supported 4K resolution.
During its recent earnings call, Sony adjusted its full-year sales projection for the PS5, lowering the estimate to 21 million units for the fiscal year 2023 from the initial target of 25 million units.
The company also indicated anticipation of a gradual decline in PS5 sales starting from the next financial year, citing the absence of major franchise titles planned for 2024 (Sony Set to Release PS5 Pro).
In the third quarter of 2023, Sony managed to sell 8.2 million PlayStation 5 units; however, the operating profit for the company’s games business experienced a decline of approximately 25 percent.
