Mid-Generation Upgrades Like PS5 Pro 'Aren't All That Meaningful', Says Take-Two CEO

Yeah its pretty hard for me to imagine what the point of one would be. I'm pretty happy with how games perform on the current model overall.

With the PS4 Pro I could at least see a pretty clear reason to get one since 4K TVs were just starting to come out and be more common among your average consumer so it made sense to put out a game system to take advantage of that tech at the time.

Now though? 8K feels pretty much pointless and most games have a solid performance mode for 60 fps for the most part. I just don't see the point personally but that's just me.

I don't see the point of a so-called Pro model. The PS5's hardware specs seem more than adequate as is.

I don't mind a PS5 Pro

There are barely any games that really taxes the current PS5. Most game's being a ported PS4 version. A Pro version isn't needed IMO.

Are these the jokers responsible for the $50 PS5 port of RDR? Yeah, don’t listen to them.

Of course they'd say it isn't meaningful because they plan to just port older games anyway with no effort.

I know it’s actually close to 3 years since the PS5 launched, but it still feels like it just came out. The PS4 Pro came out after the same number of years, but at the time felt like the regular PS4 had run its course and the upgrade felt significant.

I think companies should just skip over the pandemic years, and add on 2 or 3 more years to whatever they’re planning. I could wait til 2026 for a PS5 Pro. Or at least my bank account needs to wait that long; I couldn’t afford a new system even if it did release soon 😣

I take it this Strauss guy's wife doesnt let him speak much when he's at home ?

Sony: "Actually upgrades its hardware mid-gen."
Rockstar: "Copy pastes RDR on new blue ray disks and downgrades GTA Trilogy, both for full price."

Take Two CEO: "Yeah, no point in upgrading things."

Says from 'Commercially Accurate' for $50 port. Sure Jan

Well I agree with him on this but why do I feel R* sneakily represented him in RDR2 😂, y'know Herr Strauss, making them(Arthur) do things they're not comfortable with, like taking money($50) from poor folk.

Means nothing when games are coming out for PS4 only (looking at you, Red Dead.)

The pro consoles were always meant for the hardcore enthusiasts or the people who love high end tech. I think even Sony knows that. My biggest issue right now is publishers refusing to leave the ps4/Xone era behind especially if the Switch 2 specs being similar are true.

Some people will want the pro model. Some people won't want the pro model.

A pro model will make load times even fast. It will be able to simultaneously handle 60 fps, 4k, raytracing better, and draw distances will be improved. It'll have more storage. There is a market for this.

If you're not in that market move on. The existence of a pro model doesn't effect you.

Definitely down for one as soon as they drop. Everyone talking about consoles not being pushed seem to forget games look better while doubling the frames already, and reach 4k-1440 with RT at 30fps. Better ray tracing would be a plus but I'll never go back to a 30fps standard, the pro model will guarantee that. Frames > resolution, they can change the whole feel of a game. I can't wait to no longer worry about frame drops at 60.

@Vega37 PS4 pro was like a fresh breeze over PS4. Finally steady framerates and better overall look. That's exactly what I want from PS5 pro, no more choosing between quality (often capped at 30fps) and performance modes, just steady 60 fps at best graphical fidelity.

"Not that meaningful"...well when you release technical messes like GTA Trilogy remastered "definitive edition",or planning to only release RDR 1/Undead Nightmare via backwards compatibility mode to any ps5 owners,yeah you're on the money Strauss!🙄😋😂
Sad to see the once mighty Rockstar, masters of the open world single player reduced to being an online mtx black hole with their legacy titles treated with outsourced contempt by its Take-two overlords!😔

They might want to stop making cross gen games before releasing a hypothetical PS5 Pro. I really don't see the point of releasing a boosted version when even Sony isn't taking full advantage of the normal PS5. Nobody expect consoles to be as powerful as a high end pc anyway.

If design of Ps5 Pro is different I'll definitely buy and throw that current abomination out of window.

@Ernimus_Prime yeah? How many PS5 only games high tier has 4k 60fps? I understand you would not want to pay for that extra, but even PS5 native games doesnt provide best visuals with 60fps. It is either 4k 30fps or 1440p 60fps. I will buy PS5 Pro if it will give Performance and Quality modes at same time and I will not be pushed to choose only one option.

I don’t mind a ps5 pro model. Give me more internal ssd storage, capable of do stable 60 in quality mode and better cooling system then people would probably buy it. And I find it funny that this is coming from the Take Two CEO, same guy who says RDR port is worth $50. Probably saying this in hopes that he wouldn’t have to have their devs work on another SKU to save as much money as possible

Agree, I rather have ps5 slim with horizontal design rather than tech upgrade. I don't want console to become like video card market where there's incremental upgrade every year rather than big upgrade every 5-7 year like console.

@thaidanh This just reeks more of overconfidence with people buying it on the Switch because of "portability" Why bother upgrading something when the Switch user base is the one they are most interested in. That port will sell a couple of million units and will do well for them.

The PS5 pro probably won’t make a meaningful difference to Take Two. Their output is a mixture of last gen and cross gen.

That doesn’t mean it won’t be meaningful to enthusiasts. I certainly always appreciate a higher more of a stable frame rate.

@Powerplay94 sad but it’s true. The casual market of switch and ps4 players will buy it for sure. Then they’ll be like “see it’s what the people wanted”

@wiiware 1 year? It will be 4 years... It is close to your 5-7 year target.

I did upgrade to a PS4 pro and other than the extra storage space it felt like a complete waste of time and money.

The only way I'd ever get a 5 Pro is if my OG PS5 broke and needed to be replaced for some reason

The people expecting 4K60fps with a PS5 Pro will be in for a rude awakening. Might see better framerates and more 120fps modes but the 4K60fps dream just won't happen especially when such a thing is a luxury with 1K+ PC's.

I’ll start by saying i will more than likely get the PS5 Pro. But it’s getting really hard to have that wow factor in a $500 console. I would love to see PS and Xbox switch back to NVIDA and use DLSS and other tech advantages NVIDA carries on PC over AMD. The issue is cpu and for backwards compatibility Sony won’t be able to do much other than overclock it 30% like the PS4 Pro did. Which is still a nice spec bump. But a pro this gen will more than likely feel a little less exciting as the current console is still very capable and unreal engine 5 still needs more time to find out if it can be optimized to give some truly great running games on the current hardware. I would be happy if it means a solid 60fps or higher on all games. So i am sure i will buy it, but it’s getting harder to really excite with consoles and PC is so not optimized to take advantage of the better specs. Feels like a stagnant time in gaming hardware.

Could get to the stage where some consumers console cycle is from and to the mid-gen refresh.
The amount of support the previous gen receives would make this a viable option.

@BetaRabbit64 they aren't if games are dropping below 60 sadly.

@DennisReynolds you're right, it still won't be widespread but thankfully that's a good thing. At 1440 the frame rate can be much higher rather than dropping it for 4K which is diminishing returns. Rather focus on and see more RT too.

@HonestHick your very unlikely to see team green anywhere near a console as they are now putting pc graphics cards on hiatus in favour of their AI chips according to people working at TSMC.

And given that the RTX 4090 is eye watering in price they aren't going to want what AMD is getting of MS,Sony and Valve for their APUs

Wouldn't even be surprised if there's not a 50xx range in the next 2 years and we're all going to have to make do with shortages of chips at full whack.

@deathaxe yeah i highly doubt NVIDA comes back to Xbox and PS. But some of their tech seems as if it would help consoles. Man i don’t even wanna know what the 5 series will cost. But yeah i agree with your points fully. If i was building a PC anytime soon, i would for sure choose NVIDA tho. 😊

I don't want a PS5 pro cause I can't afford it right now and I will have FOMO, other than that how many games really pushed PS5 hardware to the limit? We still have so few current gen only games.

Not for me at this stage, not viable for me to be buying two of the 'same' console per gen, would be more likely to buy an Xbox (which I generally do later in the gen) just to play the few exclusives that has.

That said if mid term refreshes are now gonna be a thing, which it seems they are, likelihood is I just don't jump on a PS6 at launch (if it happens in a traditional form) and just hang on for a couple of years until the Pro version is released.

@TheArt it really looks quite a bit like Dan Houser's "goodbye and f*** you" considering the pivotal role Strauss has in f***ing everything up for Arthur

It is interesting to see how narratives are always moved around. During the last gen cycle people were ogling DF frame rate graphs, picking the version of a game on the platform with highest resolution, have not missed a chance to point out how much less tera flops ps4 pro had and how much less blades of grass the ps4 pro rendered wrt. the competition, and people were boosting about how much better games look on PC due to more tera flops. Now apparently power i.e. higher resolution and frame rate does not matter anymore. One somehow has the impression that this has something to do with which platform is going to have the "power lead". Or maybe it is just that people think that they cannot afford yet another expensive toy and are jealous of the people who can.

I understand that business people are not thrilled about more platforms to support, since it requires more work, and people would have bought the game anyways on one of the target platforms. So, a midgen refresh likely does not generate extra revenue for the publisher. But from the enthusiasts point of view, I would say, more power is always better, even if it is just used to even-out frame rate dips. In the past Sony's argument for the ps4 pro was that too many people would leave PS for PC. I suppose this has not changed.

Whether it is worth the price is for everybody to decide, and it certainly is good for people who upgrade to the current generation after the midgen refresh. I personally do not care enough about a little bit of higher resolution (maybe about more stable frame rates in VR, though), and in my point of view gaming hardware is supposed to be reasonably "cheap", which contradicts a midgen refresh (which kind of doubles the price).

Day one buy for me if I'm able to get one.

Ps5 pro sounds good but it's up to the game makers if they take advantage of it. Not many games took advantage of it on PS4 pro. Sony needs to realise we need games not new hardware or PS3 ports, actual games and at the minute all Sony doing is pushing hardware, no one wants to look at an even bigger ps5 pro and say oooh it's pretty while you play a PS4 game or ps5 game that doesn't take advantage of more power

@REALAIS We rarely get ps5/xbox sx exclusive this year, with only final fantasy 16, forspoken (😂) and spider-man 2 this fall, ps5 absolutely didn't need an upgrade, since most of the games also available on ps4.

I think Switch is a big factor here. The Switch released in March 2017 which was close to the release of both the PS4 Pro (November 2016) and the XB1X (November 2017). You could buy a mid gen revision to give you some extra power or you could buy a Switch that's cheaper, is a hybrid (both TV and handheld options) and gives you a load of games you can't play on PS4/XB1. Like there's a 1st party Switch game released almost every month.

So looking at the PS5 Pro situation, the Switch's successor may release close to that and then the same question would be asked.

@wiiware Why not? I dont agree to that thinking, if you would always wait to improve after things has settled, then things would improve even slower. PS4 versions getting made is because there are so many PS4 out there and with 40M+ sold PS5 it is still trailing back behind PS4. But that doesnt mean that Sony shouldnt think about future.
And as PS4 Pro, that would be Premium edition which wouldnt sell the most units but give opportunity for higher performance for those who could gain from that.
For example, I have 4k 120hz TV, but PS5 for "Normal" games provides 120fps only with 1080p which looks terrible, that would give option to play games rather 4k 60fps or 1440p 120fps. Is it needed for most people? No! But 10%+ of playerbase would take that.

"Generally speaking, the mid-generation upgrades haven't really changed much... aren't all that meaningful."

I find that a weird statement, like he's speaking about something that has been a regular occurrence. The mid-generation upgrade has happened in a grand total of one generation so far.

How could anyone claim it wasn't meaningful? On both PS4 and Xbox One, the upgraded consoles were the only way to play games in 4k, which I would argue was pretty significant considering the rise of 4k TVs at the time. Additionally, it was also the only way to play PSVR games.

This time around, I would definitely say that it's not necessary or even desirable, but when referring to the previous gen, I completely disagree with him.

There's a pretty good reason to get a mid gen upgrade. In a day and age where an equivalent PC to a PS5 would cost almost £2k, many many many people want that performance boost in an upgraded console that is near £500.

And honestly the mid gen upgrades last gen were substantially better than the base consoles and a lot of people bought them so this guy is talking doo doo

I'd pick up a PS5 Pro if it meant that I didn't have to pick between the 60FPS performance and 30FPS resolution modes. I exclusively stick with the Performance mode in games that have the option, but I do feel like I'm missing out on all those traced rays.
Good business for Sony too, as they know many people who choose to upgrade then sell on their base console, and those that buy the console second hand then become customers for games, DLC, etc.

I still use my ps4 pro.and a lot of people will buy the ps5 also.word up son

@REALAIS Ps5 pro isn't needed now because there's no games that push the ps5 forward like uncharted 4, horizon zero dawn, or spider-man back then on ps4. Ps5 need more games like this first before releasing the pro version, maybe in 2 or 3 year when ps5 have more exclusives like that.

Also, I think ps5 pro lack the marketing catchphrase, ps4 pro got "4K Support" which is important for many people since most new tv is 4K back then (now it's the standard). I don't think more framerate or ray tracing will be enough for some people to upgrade since I'm sure sony want ps5 pro to be more successful than ps4 pro.

@wiiware like you are avoiding all that I am saying. How 4k 60fps is not pushing to have PS5 PRO? You maybe are satisfied to play 4k 30fps, I am not. I dont get where PRO is such negativity for you as example? Those people who are creating PS5 Pro and next PS6 are not making games. Why are you asking to halt devolepment of hardware, because you think that there is no software. And I am giving valid point to not choose between Fidelity and Performance modes in all 1st party titles but to have it all. PRO model is not mainstream model, regular PS5 will still be main console to buy because of price, but those who strive for better performance like I do, will enjoy PS5 Pro on daily basis.
PS5 catchprashe is Supports 8k, it is same gimmick as you mentioned PS4 Pro 4k support. Knowingly that even PS5 can do only native 4k 30fps.

I would guess, that you would have same view point 8 years ago, when PS4 Pro was rumoured. And you are contradicting yourself with past ps4 pro examples. Because it is in past, you are forgiving to release PS4 pro back then, bet PS5 Pro next year? Big No, No.

Yeah assuming the ps5 pro rumours are true ,then it sds as though It could be very beneficial for vr2 as well as more stable fps,reso etc etc I'd personally get one as I love to have as much power as possible with gaming consoles ,I'm very pleased with my ps5 but if ps5 pro launches towards end next yr then great,it's funny with tech as you dont realise you possibly need it until you've got it lol,I'm sure it'll be fantastic

People expecting quality modes at 60fps on a ps5 pro are setting themselves up for some major disappointment. We have history of a pro console to keep our expectations in check (the ps4 pro and one x)

The CPU will stay practically the same, just like on ps4 pro, for compatability reasons. All you are likely to get from a pro is an increase in resolution, and maybe some settings bumped up a little. Its not going to play every game as 4k/60.

If you want 4k/60 on everything, you best open up your cheque book and write a fat cheque to a pc builder or parts supplier, because a beefy gaming pc is your only option.

more powerful machines, same type of games lol

Why we're still listening to this out of touch idiot is beyond me.

I would definitely buy a PS5 Pro. My current PS5 would then move to the living room for the family to use.

When I had the original PS4, I didn’t use it much. Then in 2018 I bought a PS4 Pro and it became my favorite console. It just seemed snappier at common tasks and menus, not to mention running games better.

I’m confident that a PS5 Pro would be a similar upgrade. Probably not earth-shattering, but something to appreciate.

Observations From Out Of Touch CEOs Like Strauss Zelnick "Aren't All That Meaningful" Says PushSquare.

Thats a compliment. 👍🏻

@REALAIS 4k 30fps is down to the laziness of the developers and has nothing to do with the capabilities of the PS5. FSR 2.2 exists and would make ANY PS5 game run at 4k 60fps without a PS5 Pro, but most developers just can't be bothered to use it on consoles.

A PS5 Pro still won't run every game at 4k 60fps because the 4k 30fps problem is down to the game developers, hardware does nothing to change that. If a 3rd party developer doesn't include a 4k 60fps option in their game, it's going to run at 4k 30, no matter what PS5 you own.

@Acurisur why you need fsr 2.2 to push upscaled 1440p 60fps to native 4k 60fps?
When 2.2 was released for PS5? Isnt that new technology? Trying to find in web, and that is this years software update. I doubtit is expected that all major games previously released will go for update for that. Your language about lazy Devs seems not fair.

And how much PS5 unused performance is left on table with those "lazy devs"? Games on PS5 has to run smooth without cooking ps5 at same time. It is not viable to push console constantly in games 95%+. If you compare PS5 gpu power then it is not close to 4080, but 4070, and that card aswell is not meant for 4k gaming at high frame rates

@REALAIS I'm not satisfied with 30 fps, I rather have 1440p or even 1080p with 60 fps rather than playing on 30 fps. If the pro version is delayed, we can get both more powerful hardware and more (ps5 only) games to support it. It's a win win I think

ps. I bought ps4 pro when it's available in my country back then, so it's not like I didn't like pro console, it's just that I think now isn't the right time. It will be cool if sony release it at the same time with their future exclusive games, like maybe 4K, 60 fps, and full RT version of ghost of tsushima 2.

@REALAIS Because FSR is an AMD software technology, that's why. It is AMD's version of DLSS, which is exclusive to NVIDIA. The PS5 was built using AMD hardware. There is literally no excuse for not using FSR in any PS5 game that can't hit 4k 60fps.

@REALAIS "Games on PS5 has to run smooth without cooking ps5 at same time"

That's literally why technology like DLSS and FSR exists. Educate yourself.

@Acurisur or simplier is to create more powerful console.

@REALAIS How is it simpler to create a more powerful console? That is anything BUT simple.

FSR on the other hand is relatively simple to improve, because it's software. Like I said before, educate yourself.

@REALAIS Digital Foundry did a very good video on FSR running on PS5 in Cyberpunk 2077, I suggest you watch it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GO90rUei8g#:~:text=and%20yet%20as%20always%20the,5%20series%20X%20and%20S.

@kcarnes9051 ya no effect until they start making games with the pro architecture in mind like both ps4 and Xbox one did, making late ps4 games almost unplayable on my release version, but it won’t concern me right? My ps5 came with horizon forbidden west, I shutter to think how my day 1 ps4 would handle that game, which was released with ps4 pro in mind.

more power, more storage, better thermals, smaller size, more features, better frame rates, yeah I'll definitely go for middle gen refreshes but I agree casual players never care for these things and will stick to first models.