The PlayStation 5 Pro might be arriving this year, which would be around four years after Sony released the PS5 in November 2020, according to analysts who who talked with CNBC. This is similar to how the PS4 received an update with the PlayStation 4 Pro.
The analysts speaking with CNBC claims that the PlayStation 5 Pro is likely on its way ahead of the release of Grand Theft Auto VI (GTA 6)in 2025. This would be in order to boost the interest in the updated console ahead of the highly-anticipated game's launch.
“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,” Serkan Toto, CEO of games consultancy company Kantan Games, said during an interview CNBC. “And Sony will want to make sure to have a great piece of hardware ready when GTA VI hits in 2025, a launch that will be a shot in the arm for the entire gaming industry.”
The launch of the PS5 Pro would raise the question about whether or not the price of the base PlayStation 5 will maintain its current $499 price tag or drop. During Sony's recent earnings call, the company's management said its plan for next year is to “optimize sales with a greater emphasis on the balance with profits,” and according to George Jijiashvili, the senior principal analyst at Omdia, this may cause Sony to keep the PS5 at its launch price even after the launch of the upgraded version.
"Therefore, a scenario where Sony launches a PS5 Pro, but still experiences declining year-on-year hardware sales is very much within the realms of possibility," Jijiashvili explained.
Last November, Sony launched a smaller version of the standard PS5 that has a detachable disc drive, and it comes with the PlayStation Portal player.
Will GTA 6 get a PS5 Pro Bundle?
The PS5 Pro and Grand Theft Auto VI are two of the highly-anticipated gaming products, and fans are already expecting that they will be bundled together. Even if Sony launches the PS5 Pro later this year, ahead of the launch of GTA 6 next year, there's still a good chance that we will see a PS5 Pro + GTA 6 bundle in the near future.
Alex Smith, a developer who previously worked at Sony-owned Bend Studio and indie-developer Ember Lab, claims that PlayStation had secured the marketing rights to GTA 6.
Since developer Rockstar Games already confirmed that GTA 6 will also be available for the Xbox Series X/S, Smith's claim doesn't mean that the game will be exclusively released for the PlayStation 5. This means that the highly-anticipated game will be marketed with a focus on its PS5 version, and Sony and Rockstar will work together on cross-promotions.
Smith didn't share any details on pricing or a release date, and it's also worth noting that the information he shared is not official, so it should be taken with a grain of salt. Sony has yet to confirm a PS5 Pro, so fans will have to wait for an official announcement before we can expect a release date for the bundle.
