The PlayStation 5 Pro will reportedly enhance the visual appeal of games that were originally released for PlayStation 4, according to a project manager with Sony. The console is set to launch in early November, and while several specific games are set to receive big upgrades on the PlayStation 5 Pro, it sounds like even older games from the previous console generation will see its benefits.
So far, there have been announcements about more than 60 games getting PS5 Pro upgrades, including popular titles like Alan Wake 2 and Madden NFL 25, as well as some yet-to-be-released games like Dragon Age: The Veilguard and Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii. While the games on the announcement list will benefit from features like improved ray tracing performance and frame rates, they’re not the only games that will get a visual upgrade when running on PS5 Pro.
The PS5 Pro will be backwards-compatible with the PlayStation 4, and according to Toshimasa Aoki, senior principal product manager in Sony’s global product planning department, the upcoming console will also provide a boost to frame rates of games released on PS4. In an interview with Japanese-language game site 4Gamer, Aoki called this feature Image Quality Boost, and he said there will be a setting on the PS5 Pro that enables it to be toggled on or off. This feature will only affect PS4 games with variable frame rates, but it could potentially provide an aesthetic boost to even the best-looking games on PS4.
Games Confirmed For PS5 Pro Enhancement
The mid-generation console release seems to be a novel idea among some developers. About a week ago, Hello Games’ Martin Griffiths said the upcoming console “absolutely rocks.” Working on one of the games listed for an official PlayStation 5 Pro upgrade, the engine programmer for No Man’s Sky praised the PS5 Pro, sharing a screenshot of the game’s enhanced visuals and pointing out that his programming experience dates back to the first PlayStation console.
Despite the obvious visual benefits of the PlayStation 5 Pro, not all fans are sold on the idea of shelling out the money to get one. The console comes with a price point of just under $700, and even adjusted for inflation, it’s still one of the most expensive consoles in PlayStation‘s nearly 30-year history. The PS5 Pro still isn’t selling out in the United States or the United Kingdom with just under a month until its launch, with some analysts like Tom Warren of The Verge speculating that the high price tag may be scaring away potential customers.
