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[Celcius]

Microsoft and Sony are both working with AMD to make their systems and I would imagine that if one of them starts working on a Pro console then the other would be aware of it.

They basically have access to the same hardware and then tune it differently. If it either became economically feasible for one of them to release a $500 Pro console, or if one of them started working on a $800 Pro console then I have to imagine the hardware would be available for the other company as well.

So this leads to my question - if Microsoft or Sony comes out with a Pro console then do you think the other needs to as well? Can they afford to have a weaker system than the competition? Or do you think they have a gentleman’s agreement to keep power levels roughly similar?

 

[StueyDuck]

In my professional opinion...

Maybe, I'd say it's a 50/50

 

[yurinka]

I think none of them will make a Pro, and that one of them doing it wouldn't for the other to make it, specially considering that they would need several years.

I think it's more likely that instead of increasing the amount of SKUs they'd decrease it: to discontinue PS4 and Series S, and replace both PS5 skus for a discless one with the disk reader addon.

 

[feynoob]

Have you seen the supply issues that this gen had?

 

[U n i o n 0015]

No. Sony is so far ahead in terms of market share I don't think they even need to worry about Xbox on the hardware front.

They're probably more concerned with Xbox going after developer acquisitions that take valuable multi-party devs and titles off the board.

 

[Kdad]

How the fuck does MS make a Pro version and STILL insist every game be put on S? If its on XPro it'll be on X, and if its on X it has to be on S...that's what S purchasers were promised. Maybe all XPro games are on S via streaming...

 

[GustavoLT]

I think Sony will release a slim version 2 years before PS6! No 'PRO' consoles this time!

 

[damidu]

dont think ms would be eager to do it, they already have issues selling existing SKU's.
another high priced one with equaly stupid name would only muddy waters, confuse people more.

but if sony does it, they might need to follow suit
otherwise they'd be in horrible spot power narrative wise,
ps5 vs series s, ps5pro vs xsx. uuuh

sony should probably do it just to fuck with them.
i think there is an audience for pro consoles

 

[diffusionx]

No, last gen it made sense for both companies. MS wanted to fix the issues with the original One's design and show they could design compelling console hardware, and Sony wanted people to keep using PS4 even when they transitioned to 4K TVs. So both companies released one.

This gen, I don't see it for either company.

 

[scydrex]

If a ps5 pro supports higher fps for psvr2 games. Like for example gt7 or RE8 running at 90hz at least then i would buy one. If it's capable. Not interested for 4k 60fps or anything like that. I'm happy with 1440p 60fps or higher res 40fps.

 

[DeepEnigma]

How the fuck does MS make a Pro version and STILL insist every game be put on S? If its on XPro it'll be on X, and if its on X it has to be on S...that's what S purchasers were promised. Maybe all XPro games are on S via streaming...

The XSX is their current "Pro console."

These things take years to tape. There would be no "forced to react," they would have had it in development. If not, then they would wait until a new gen.

 

[T4keD0wN]

Yes, they are direct competitors, they both want to be the market leaders and every company uses the same management principles. They might not necessarily need to respond, but i can assure you that their leadership 100% does put it in their risk register and develops a risk response plans for this scenario along with dozens of other possible ones. The responses can either be avoidance, transferring, acceptance or mitigation (in many various ways). Half of these arent really appropriate here.

Neither of these companies are run by clueless amateurs, there are billions at stake, they are well aware of what their competitors are doing at all times and they plan ahead.
Theres close to zero chance they would be unaware of it. They would start planning their response the moment they find out, the kind of response depends on where it would rank on their internal risk impact and probability matrix, my assumption is that it would be very high risk+high impact so the most appropriate thing for them to do is avoid the risk by planning out a "pro console" that they would launch around the same time as their competitor.

 

[Represent.]

Yes. And if they didn't then the other would simply be first to launch their next console to the market

 

[darrylgorn]

No, there will be no pro consoles this gen. You're stuck with 30 fps this round.

 

[Black_Stride]

The time and R&D investment to develop a pro console doesnt make reactionary decisions feasible.

If either makes a pro while the other didnt plan to......thats that.

 

[Thirty7ven]

Depends on the userbase difference once it happens.

 

[thismeinteil]

I think Xbox would definitely rush one out of Sony put one out. Though, with them having a hard enough time selling out HW, it would just be another system taking up space on shelves.

Sony, on the other hand, probably wouldn't worry about it if they hadn't already planned to put one out. The PS5 is flying off shelves, which shows no one cares about the 10.3 vs 12. Why would the average person care about a 20-24 Tflops X Series that would probably be $599-$699 and still held back by the Series S? To play that mega hit Redfall at 60fps?

 

[ToTTenTranz]

There are plenty reports from good sources mentioning a PS5 Pro already. That one is definitely going to happen and I don't really get why some people don't want it to come.


I don't know about the Xbox though. They have to be able to move consoles and software in a scale that justifies the development of a new product and then subsidize the hardware, and the Series S might already have spent Microsoft's credits for forcing a second performance target.

 

[Damigos]

Probably one would force the other. But since every single major game this gen is available at 60 fps (except Starfield ofc) i would prefer them to not release a pro model and just release next gen a year earlier

 

[aries_71]

I’m personally tired of the console Pro fashion. Better directly go to PC where you can be as Pro as you wish.

 

[Calverz]

 

[Knightime_X]

What needs to be done is work with and optimize what you have for the platform you're on.
Makes your game apps similar to pc.

Instead of a pro console, have those games from last generation automatically use next generation hardware.
Consoles are becoming more like pc than ever before.
They pretty much use pc hardware already.

 

[SkylineRKR]

I think yes. If MS would release a console thats 3 times as powerful as Series X I am sure Sony will follow suit. I am sure a share of fans will clamor it too, since they will see their multiplatform games being far better on the competing system otherwise.

The majority will likely still prefer PS5, which is also cheaper than a Series X upgrade, but there is a chunk out there that wants it and Sony doesn't want to look like they're far behind too.

For this gen however, I don't see it happening. There is nothing like a 4K TV push back in 2015 this time around.

 

[ShakenG]

I can see playstation doing a pro console but i cant see Microsoft having 3 current gen consoles on the market at the same time. Guess we'll find out in the next 2years.

 

[X-Wing]

I don't believe so and I'm going to explain why.
But only if you like and subscribe.

 

[Gaiff]

The XSX is their current "Pro console."

These things take years to tape. There would be no "forced to react," they would have had it in development. If not, then they would wait until a new gen.

The time and R&D investment to develop a pro console doesnt make reactionary decisions feasible.

If either makes a pro while the other didnt plan to......thats that.

This. Their reaction would have them release a console two years after the competitor's Pro comes out. People think those things take a few weeks to plan and execute lol.

 

[RoboFu]

They throw tons of money at trying to best one another .. meanwhile .. Nintendo will put out a system relatively on par with a xbox one s and destroy both of them.

 

[Roxkis_ii]

Current consoles already have a lot of juice that could be squeezed out of them. We don't need pro consoles, we need a slim console (at least on the PS side).

 

[ZoukGalaxy]

No, there will be no pro consoles this gen.

 

[Riky]

How the fuck does MS make a Pro version and STILL insist every game be put on S? If its on XPro it'll be on X, and if its on X it has to be on S...that's what S purchasers were promised. Maybe all XPro games are on S via streaming...

Quite easy.

You develop for the Series X and downscale to S and upscale to Pro. Just like every PC game ever and how Forza Horizon 5 is happily on four Xbox consoles now.

 

[HeisenbergFX4]

There are plenty reports from good sources mentioning a PS5 Pro already. That one is definitely going to happen and I don't really get why some people don't want it to come.

 

[Isa]

I think it may be limited this time. For MS anyway, I think the rumors for PS might be true, and I'd probably snag one myself. I think Sony has the potential and ability to do so, but I don't think it'd be cheap, I guess over 600 easy. A luxury item. Not sure about MS though, they might but if they do I think it would be like the One X and release later. I don't mind the S though I have the X, but I can see how they might've burned some bridges or at least rustled the jimmies of devs and publishers having to square circle on a lower scale machine which could hamper ambitions and budgets.

I could also see base machines being the norm this gen with a few new revisions such as slim models and such. It still feels like the gen is just starting for me personally.

 

[Fabieter]

Both have prototyped a pro console 100%.

 

[Rocco Schiavone]

No, there will be no pro consoles this gen. You're stuck with 30 fps this round.

AMD will release next year apus that reach RTX 4070 mobile level(if sources are correct). But there will be no pro console??

 

[darrylgorn]

AMD will release next year apus that reach RTX 4070 mobile level(if sources are correct). But there will be no pro console??

Nope. Sorry.

 

[Rival]

Would either be able to make a pro console that won’t be the size of my coffee table?

 

[StereoVsn]

I think PS5 Pro is going to happen judging by the leaks. Too much smoke.

MS though, I don't know, my guess is they have R&D efforts ongoing and will have that in the pocket alongside contingency plans and agreements for manufacturing as they examine Sony's efforts.

 

[Fbh]

I think it would.
I don't think either of them wants to be left behind in terms of power, at least not to such a degree.

 

[ToTTenTranz]

Nope. Sorry.

They will. It's called Strix Halo and it'll be more powerful than both consoles using chiplets:

- 16core Zen5
- 40 CUs RDNA3.5 (probably close to 3GHz, so over 15 TFLOPs with higher IPC)
- 64MB L3 / Infinity Cache
- 256bit LPDDR5X 8533MT/s (~273GB/s total)


It's probably a product for premium laptops and since it's using LPDDR5 it's not coming to desktop, so it won't come cheap.
Regardless, AMD is fitting all this below 100W, probably around 75W or so. Using mature 4nm there's more than enough headroom to make a PS5 Pro with 25+ TFLOPs using the same ~300W TDP or a little bit higher.

 

[Crayon]

There's some dynamic like that going on but it's asymetric. A pro might be a pain for sony but it would be a wreck for ms as it's just going to be that same core fanbase that bought 3 xbox ones doubling down again. Seems mote like sony would do it just to put ms in a shitty position. MS is obsessed with having higher terraflops but that's again just for ambassodor grade fans to fap over. That lead to a backfire with the xsx becasue it doesn't really perform better than a ps5 and costs way more to make.

 

[BlackTron]

Sony is going to copy MS's two-SKU strategy, but the joke is, the one we already have IS the PS5 Series S!

Seriously though, I think if Sony made a better spec, and I doubt they would, then MS would react with a new console, because they are by nature reactionary and obsessed with power. But I think if MS made a more powerful console, Sony would not necessarily react right away. They didn't think it was a good idea to have a weaker system either like Series S, but having a fragmented install base with a weaker SKU is exactly what they would be getting in the end anyway. They already stuck to their guns once when the PS5 was on paper weaker than XSX.

 

[OuterLimits]

Microsoft needs to just focus on releasing quality games. That is the most important factor that will sell consoles for the remainder of this generation.

 

[jroc74]

No, I dont think so.

Despite what some ppl think. Let MS get Series X out on shelves, trying to fit another console in with their stock situation would be wild.

Microsoft and Sony are both working with AMD to make their systems and I would imagine that if one of them starts working on a Pro console then the other would be aware of it.

They basically have access to the same hardware and then tune it differently. If it either became economically feasible for one of them to release a $500 Pro console, or if one of them started working on a $800 Pro console then I have to imagine the hardware would be available for the other company as well.

So this leads to my question - if Microsoft or Sony comes out with a Pro console then do you think the other needs to as well? Can they afford to have a weaker system than the competition? Or do you think they have a gentleman’s agreement to keep power levels roughly similar?

MS already has a product for that, its called the Series S.

The decision to release a weaker and stronger console to start the gen is looking ....hmmm.....as time goes by...

 

[In Cold Blood]

If we remember, the XOX released a year behind the Pro, and it didn't hurt it really.

Maybe if the PS5 Pro comes out in 2025, MS might be thinking that two years longer and they can release the new Xbox generation anyway.

I have a feeling that MS might want to get a jump of Sony with the next gen. They might be thinking that it helped the 360.

Another thing is that I think MS might be heading in a different direction next generation, as was indicated by Project Sabin.

 

[skit_data]

I don't think Xbox will follow suit if/when PS5 Pro is unveiled. Designing these boxes take time, if they get caught completely off guard it's better to just stay the course than introducing new hardware in what will be the 11th hour before a new gen starts.
I'm leaning towards that the PS5 Pro is real, but I won't get my hopes up in regards to the price point - I think it will be aimed towards the same people that bought the Dualsense Edge. i.e it will be pretty damn expensive (unlike the PS4 Pro). I think it will be deemed too expensive even among us more initiated. That's my guess, because that seem to be their strategy this gen, like it or not.

 

[dreamcastluvr]

I wouldn't use the word "force," but I can guarantee you that both companies already have planned out several different scenarios in the case of the other introducing a "Pro" model. Both most likely already have several different prototypes and potential designs. It's like a game of chess- once one of them decides it's time to make a move to introduce a new product (be it a Slim or Pro model), the other will have their response ready to go.