PlayStation Senior Principal Product Manager Toshi Aoki has revealed that the PS5 Pro was planned before PS5‘s launch in 2020. The console designer credits technology’s quick evolution as reasoning behind the early discussions.
PlayStation designer Toshi Aoki says they “can’t really stop” innovating its hardware
In a recent interview with IGN, Aoki confirmed PS5 Pro discussions occurred before the PS5’s launch. With the base console’s specs already in place and technology constantly evolving, it seems Sony already knew how they’d want to improve its machine. Aoki says they “can’t really stop” innovating its hardware.
“We started discussing it before the PS5 actually came out . . . because the PS5 specs were already locked in,” says Aoki. “We were ready to launch and everything . . . We knew, of course, as you mentioned, technologies evolve every year.”
PS5 Pro will be the most technologically advanced home console when it launches later this year. Aoki also discussed some of these advancements, and why they weren’t present on base PS5 models.
“I think it’s more from the technological point of view of . . . Even the AI upscaling, it’s not easy . . . it takes time to get there,” says Aoki. “So as we were trying to target the best of both worlds . . . that’s why we invested in seeing the other ways that we can get games into that space for high fidelity 60 FPS.”
It isn’t really a surprise the PS5 Pro was discussed before the base console’s launch. It seems development on PS6 is already underway, and is reportedly putting an emphasis on backwards compatibility.
The PS5 Pro is Sony’s next iteration of its current gen hardware. The enhanced console boasts a larger GPU, advanced ray tracing, and AI driven upscaling. Blurring the lines between PC and console gaming, this allows games to perform well while still maintaining solid image quality. Many developers have stated how they intend to take advantage of the upcoming hardware.
PS5 Pro launches November 7, 2024, for $699.99. A PlayStation 30th Anniversary bundle just went up for preorder and sold out nearly instantly.
(Source: IGN)
