author: Paul Wozniak
Sony: PS5 Pro in the Middle of Next Generation?
In an interview for Game Informer, Sony's executive vice president of hardware and operations engineering, Masayasu Ito, suggested that an improved version of the console might also be available next to PlayStation 5 after some time. However, one of the editors of Kotaku reports that PS5 launch titles will not be available on PS4.
The rapid development of technology has somewhat forced the developers of the current generation of consoles to create improved versions, which are a kind of "link" between older and upcoming devices and allow developers to take advantage of the extra power and refine their games (i.e. PlayStation 4 Pro and Xbox One X). With the upcoming release of PS5 and Xbox Scarlett, some of us started to wonder if the new generation consoles will be able to handle the demanding titles in the coming years, or if the situation with releases of their improved versions will happen again?
Sony's executive vice president of hardware and operations engineering, Masayasu Ito, suggested in an interview for Game Informer that an improved version of the console (which would most likely be released mid-way through the generation) might be needed for the PS5 as well, although it doesn't have to be. It all depends on how fast the technology evolves and how the consoles will be able to handle the latest titles in a few years' time.
"Indeed, in the past, the cycle for a new platform was 7 to 10 years, but in view of the very rapid development and evolution of technology, it’s really a six to seven year platform cycle. Then we cannot fully catch up with the rapid development of the technology, therefore our thinking is that as far as a platform is concerned for the PS5, it’s a cycle of maybe six to seven years. But doing that, a platform lifecycle, we should be able to change the hardware itself and try to incorporate advancements in technology. That was the thinking behind it, and the test case of that thinking was the PS4 Pro that launched in the midway of the PS4 launch cycle."
It is worth recalling that the first rumors about PS5 Pro appeared at the end of September this year. A Japanese journalist reported then that the console will be marketed simultaneously in two variants. However, he did not give any details about the specification of the more powerful model.
In addition, there unconfirmed info that Sony's future launch titles will only be released on PS5. The source of this news is one of the editors of the Kotaku, Jason Schreier. In the last "Splitscreen" podcast he said that according to the information available to him, we will be unable to play launch titles planned for the PS5 on current-gen consoles. However, it should be borne in mind at all times that this has not been officially confirmed in any way. In contrast, we know that Microsoft intends to move in a different direction - the latest Halo will appear on both current and the next-gen consoles. The situation is similar with the upcoming Ubisoft titles (such as Watch Dogs: Legion and Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Quarantine).