Sony Fans Are Unhappy About PlayStation 5 Pro's Price

For Sony, 2024 has been a year marked by a continuous rollercoaster of highs and lows, with the company's reputation among the gaming community swinging like a pendulum between universal praise and widespread criticism. After the disappointment of Concord and the triumph of Astro Bot, it seemed almost fated for the studio to take the L with its next major announcement – the much-anticipated PlayStation 5 Pro console – and unfortunately for Sony, the pattern persisted.

Announced on September 10, PS5 Pro was touted by Sony as the most visually advanced PlayStation console ever, featuring an upgraded GPU, an AI-powered upscaler, advanced ray tracing, and optimized performance for higher and more consistent frame rates. "I'm incredibly proud to announce the next step in [console] evolution and welcome PlayStation 5 Pro to the PlayStation family – our most advanced and innovative console hardware to date," said CEO of SIE's Platform Business Group, Hideaki Nishino, in the official statement.

Despite the extensive hype and months of speculation leading up to the new console's release, the aforementioned pattern worked like a charm and the community's reaction to PS5 Pro was lukewarm at best, with the official reveal trailer currently boasting a disappointing ratio of 149K dislikes compared to just 51K likes:

So, what were the reasons behind such a negative reception, you might ask? The first and most obvious issue, which, by the way, didn't make it into the reveal trailer or its description despite being a top concern for 99% of the human population, was the price.

As it stands, PS5 Pro has a suggested retail price of $700 in the US, £700 in the UK, and a staggering €800 in the EU – almost double the price of PS4 Pro when it launched in 2016. While factors like inflation or component shortages could explain the increase, the fact that this price doesn't include the vertical stand or even a disc drive really rubbed many PlayStation fans the wrong way. And if you're wondering why the price in euros is higher than in dollars, despite the euro being around 10% more valuable, well, your guess is as good as mine.

Besides the console's costly nature, some players also took issue with PS5 Pro's ROI, arguing that the price wouldn't feel so outrageous had there been more PlayStation exclusives available on the market. If Geoff Keighley's list is to be believed, there are only five exclusive games (games that can't be played on PC or any other console besides PlayStation) coming to PS5 Pro in the near future, namely Demon's Souls, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, Gran Turismo 7, Marvel's Spider-Man 2, and The Last of Us: Part II Remastered:

Even the graphical enhancements promised by the new device were criticized by the online community, as many found it hard to spot any noticeable difference between the visuals on the standard PS5 and the Pro version:

So, what's your take on the situation? Is the outrage justified? What do you think about PlayStation 5 Pro? Leave your thoughts in the comments!