The PlayStation 5 Pro is $700, and that price point is already divisive. It is a high-end console cheaper than most comparable gaming PCs, but it’s still the most expensive console from one of the video game industry’s big three manufacturers. It’ll likely find its audience in tech enthusiasts who crave power, but more casual gamers may find that they have no need to upgrade.
Even if it finds a niche, questions remain about its fate as it prepares for a November 7 launch. Is the PS5 Pro too expensive at $700? Will it turn the sluggish game industry around in a more positive direction? To make sense of the controversial move, I spoke to analysts from around the game industry about the PS5 Pro’s chances of success. They all responded with conservative and level-headed takes on the high price point.
The analysts I spoke to believe PS5 Pro will be a modest success but won’t reignite console sales industrywide or become the premiere PlayStation console for general audiences. As Mat Piscatella, executive director of video games at Circana, tells Digital Trends, the PS5 Pro “does give the enthusiast audience a reason to buy and stay engaged, and if the PS5 Pro can do that, it will have succeeded.”
Is $700 too much for the PS5 Pro?
There’s a lot of negativity about the $700 pricing online already, which continues a recent trend for Sony. Last year, PlayStation VR2 launched at $550 (to many fans’ dismay) and was a sales disappointment. That initially had me skeptical about the PS5 Pro’s $700 MSRP, which is $150 more expensive than that VR headset. The analysts I spoke to thought there was not much of a comparison to make because the PlayStation VR2 lacks strong games and first-party support, which PS5 Pro will have. More crucially, they didn’t seem concerned about PS5 Pro being $700 because they believe it’s targeting an audience willing to stomach that high cost.
“PS5 Pro, much like the PS4 Pro during the last generation, is targeted at the super-enthusiast console audience,” Piscatella explains. “This group tends to be a bit more price insensitive and tends to want the latest/greatest console technology available. But it is a relatively small audience.”
Meanwhile, MIDiA Research games industry analyst Rhys Elliott points to the success of PlayStation Portal and DualSense Edge, PS5 accessories that were deemed too expensive before release but still came out successful.
“While $700 is a high price point in this macroeconomic climate, PlayStation’s diehard fans have shown that when it comes to high-end experiences with their console, they are willing to pay extra,” Elliott tells Digital Trends.
Whether the PS5 Pro feels too expensive will have a different answer for each person, but Sony is hoping that there are enough techies out there to make it work.
Will the PS5 Pro be successful?
To set expectations for how successful PS5 Pro can be, we need to look at how well PS4 Pro did. Circana Retail Tracking Service shows that the PS4 Pro made up 13% of lifetime PS4 units sold. Piscatella expects PS5 Pro “to finish somewhere in the 9% to 15% range by the time the generation ends,” although he hedges that we’ll have to “wait and see” if that’s true. GameDiscoverCo founder Simon Carless similarly believes that what the PS5 Pro offers is sensible, but success will depend on extraneous factors, such as the quality of PS5 Pro-enhanced games.
“The PS5 Pro makes sense as a higher-end option for core PlayStation fans, even if it’s being perceived as expensive,” Carless tells Digital Trends. “The question is definitely the reach — will there be 1 million, 5 million, or 10 million people who will pay for a deluxe option? It’ll depend on how much more impressive the “Pro-enhanced’ versions of games look, which is somewhat unclear right now.”
All of the analysts I spoke with agreed that the PS5 Pro will resonate with at least some portion of the most hardcore gaming audiences. The real question is if it can draw in casual players. Elliott admits that PS5 Pro “lacks a value proposition for non-diehards” but is optimistic overall.
MIDiA consumer research shows that 40% of console players name graphics as a major motivator for playing new games. He thinks bundles with games like Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, Monster Hunter Wilds, or Grand Theft Auto VI would attract people to the hardware (no such bundles are confirmed at this time). Even Mark Cerny highlighted that most players opt for Performance Mode while playing games in PS5 Pro’s reveal livestream, so a console that delivers consistent performance without sacrificing visuals could be a strong enough selling point for gamers.
For now, it doesn’t seem like PS5 Pro will make a massive breakout into the casual gaming market at $700. At best, analysts like Elliott think it could finally get people to upgrade from PS4 to PS5, even if that’s with a secondhand base PS5 model.
Will the PS5 Pro save the video game industry?
It’s no secret that the video game industry has struggled over the past year and a half. The COVID-19 pandemic boom subsided, leading to decreases in console sales, a lack of people upgrading to next-gen consoles, and massive layoffs across the industry that are still ongoing. Even if it stays relegated to the hardcore market, I can’t help but wonder if PS5 Pro’s release could kick-start the video game industry’s turn in a positive direction. Piscatella isn’t optimistic on that point.
“This product isn’t targeted at the mass market, so we shouldn’t expect to see mass market success,” Piscatella says. “It’s more about keeping that super-enthusiast group engaged and giving them incentive to purchase a second PS5 console during the generation.”
Carless says he “wouldn’t expect to see major increases in console hardware sales from an announcement like PS5 Pro,” although he hopes that the work and high price of PS5 Pro can make future iterations of PlayStation consoles cheaper. Elliott has the most positive viewpoint, specifically for PlayStation, as people subscribe to PS Plus and buy the back catalog of PS5 games.
“We expect that the PS5 Pro will have a direct positive impact on hardware sales, and some of that will also trickle into software spending,” Elliot says. “However, the console won’t lead to much spending in terms of non-PlayStation players. The release of the Switch 2 and GTA 6 next year will have more impact in terms of driving growth.”
These perspectives should tempter expectations for PS5 Pro and decreased ire toward its $700 price point. There’s no denying that it’s an expensive gaming console, but it doesn’t seem like it will inherently flop because of that. If hardcore PlayStation fans who like accessories like the DualSense Edge pick it up, it can create a strong enough niche to succeed. The $700 price isn’t the most appealing thing about PS5 Pro, but it’s not necessarily the hardware’s death knell.
PlayStation 5 Pro will be released on November 7.
