PlayStation 5 Pro expected this year - report
"Ready for release of GTA 6 in 2025."
Sony is expected to launch a souped up version of the PlayStation 5 later this year, analysts have suggested.
A new CNBC report notes that there was now "broad concensus in the game industry that Sony is indeed preparing a launch of a PS5 Pro in the second half of 2024," quoting Tokyo-based games analyst Serkan Toto.
However, the report cautions that Sony is unlikely to see a large uptick in PS5 sales year-on-year as a result of the Pro's launch, and is also unlikely to cut the cost of the base PS5 model as a result. (Sony, unsurprsingly, has not commented on CNBC's report.)
"Sony will want to make sure to have a great piece of hardware ready when GTA 6 hits in 2025, a launch that will be a shot in the arm for the entire gaming industry," Toto commented.
Word of a PS5 Pro launching this year is nothing new - rumours spread last summer which Digital Foundry analysed at the time, based on a report by journalist Tom Henderson who correctly predicted both Sony's Project Q handheld and updated PS5 "slim" with detachable disc drive. It's unclear exactly what boost in power the PS5 Pro might receive, however.
"The mooted Viola APU for the PS5 Pro apparently has 60 compute units, possibly with four disabled," Digital Foundry boss Rich Leadbetter commented at the time. "This would only constitute four more CUs than Xbox Series X, so in terms of a key area of expense - the main processor - it seems affordable. Moving to a likely 5nm production process also means that the APU could run at higher clock speeds."
Last week, Microsoft confirmed it was planning to launch new Xbox console hardware later this year - though it remains to be seen if it will come with a hardware boost from the base Xbox Series X/S, or whether it will be akin to the leaked Xbox Series X/S redesigns we saw splashed online last year, from plans dating back to 2022.
Speaking to Eurogamer last year, Xbox boss Phil Spencer noted that frequent changes in hardware specs meant "a ton of complexity for creators and players in something that used to be very simple".
Nintendo, of course, is readying its own new hardware - though reports verified by Eurogamer suggest Switch 2 is now set for 2025.