PS5 Pro at an expensive $699: 50M PS4 owners want an upgrade, the best console for GTA 6

Sony has over 50+ million PS4 Pro owners globally, with users looking for a reason to upgrade says an analyst, up to the new beefed-up PS5 Pro console that Sony just announced for $699, debuting on November 7, 2024.

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In a chat with Rhys Elliott, a Games Industry Analyst with MIDia Research, said he expects the new PS5 Pro to "sell well" to the existing 50,000,000+ strong PS4 Pro audience. Sony did debut the PS4 Pro with a killer feature at the time: 4K HDR, but the new PS5 Pro has 45% faster performance, 2-3x more performance in RT, and AI-powered upscaling through PSSR.

Elliott said that Sony would be silly to not market the console as "the best way to play Grand Theft Auto 6" ahead of GTA 6's game-changing launch in 2025. We've already heard rumors that Sony has "locked down the marketing rights" to GTA 6 for its PS5 Pro and PS5 consoles, with GTA 6 providing a big inticement to PS4 Pro gamers wanting a reason to upgrade to the new PS5 Pro.

Elliott said: "Sony's $700 PS5 Pro is for superfans - it won't really grow PlayStation's playerbase. Still, depending on supply, I expect the PS5 Pro to sell well among this intended audience. It's true that the PS5 Pro doesn't have a use case as strong as the PS4 Pro's (4K HDR at a time when consumer penetration of 4K TVs was rising). But it was shrewd of Sony to poke the pain point of having to choose between fidelity and performance modes - a reality for many latest-gen console players. That's a value proposition that might even get the fence-sitting superfans to bite".

• Read more: Analyst expects 13-15 million sales of PS5 Pro: says $700 console is for Superfans
• Read more: PS5 Pro is official: 45% faster, 2-3x faster in RT, launches Nov 7 for $699
• Read more: Prediction: Sony bundling new $699 PS5 Pro with GTA 6 would be the biggest system seller EVER

"There are also some 50 million PS4 users looking for a reason to upgrade. Some of that group might bite the $700 bullet and enter at the PS5 Pro. Sony would be shrewd to market the console as"the best way to play Grand Theft Auto 6", ahead of GTA 6's culture-shaking launch".

"A PS5 Pro bundled with GTA 6 would work even better. Sony released special-branded PS4 Pros for first-party games (Spider-Man) and third-party ones (Monster Hunter), so we expect a similar strategy for the PS5 Pro. What's more, third-party games, including the imminent Assassin's Creed Shadows, Monster Hunter Wilds, and GTA 6 are now launching new-generation only. The success of the new-gen only EA Sports College Football 25 has shown just how powerful new-gen games are in getting consumers to upgrade".

He continued, adding: "There are reasons for last-generation holdouts to upgrade, and they might land on the slightly more expensive PS5 Pro (the base model will not get a price cut). But the point remains: the PS5 Pro is for the highly engaged enthusiasts. There is a market for it, and a lot of the people complaining online simply are not part of that market".