PS5 Pro Dev Discusses Who It’s For And The Hefty $700 Price Point

The PlayStation 5 Pro is priced at $700 USD, a price point that shocked some when the system was announced earlier in September. PlayStation designer Toshi Aoki said in a new interview that the price is justified in part because it’s not aimed at everyone.

“Well, it is for the enthusiasts, the most engaged players,” Aoki told GameSpot. “Which could be our initial early adopters who purchased the PS5. Also, people who have not come yet, maybe on other devices, but would want to play on the big-screen TVs. Have that capability on the console now that would shift over. We’re not targeting just like the current PS5 owners, that’s not it. It’s more for the game enthusiasts who want to have that gameplay experience, which could be new users as well.”

Aoki told IGN that the PS5 Pro’s technological differences, the 2 TB SSD, the Wi-Fi 7 improvements, and the “new technologies that surround the gameplay” justify the hefty price tag. In Australia, the PS5 Pro starts at $1,200 AUD.

“So it’s more of a full package that will give that exceptional value to the players… the most engaged players that we’re targeting,” Aoki said.

As for the choice to make the PS5 Pro a disc-free console and offer a disc drive as an option purchase for $80 USD, Aoki said it came down to “giving players choices.”

“We believe as a full package that it offers for the most players,” he said. “For the disc drive, it is an option for players. Not all players have discs, even though most players may…but we have the option for being able to add that for those players. So I think it’s more of the balance of the value proposition that we’re giving.”

Analyst Mat Piscatella believes the PS5 Pro price point is not an issue for the enthusiast audience, and that the market for the PS5 Pro is only a “very small portion” of the total PlayStation fanbase.

PS5 Pro preorders go live on Thursday, September 26. For more, check out GameSpot’s PS5 Pro preorder guide.

GameSpot went hands-on with the PS5 Pro, and editor Jordan Ramee said he wasn’t immediately convinced to upgrade.