Following the official announcement of the PlayStation 5 Pro earlier this week, much of the discussion about it has focused on its $700 price rather than its advanced PlayStation Spectral super-resolution technology. That’s understandable, since $700 is a lot of money for a new version of a console that’s just four years old. But as former Blizzard president Mike Ybarra pointed out, there’s at least one way to lower the price. Or as they say in spam ads, “a weird trick”.
Ybarra pointed to a strategy that many fans have already considered, which is to trade in a new PS5 model, effectively cutting the cost of a new PS5 Pro in half.
There’s a slightly different take on this. Professional models, or any generation upgrade, are all about upgrades for existing users. So when the team evaluated costs, they didn’t want to lose money on each console because that would put a strain on other parts of the business. They think about how they can…
— Mike Ybarra (@Qwik) September 10, 2024
GameStop is offering $350 to $385 in store credit on used PlayStation 5 consoles, with models with disc drives costing more. But if a large number of players adopt this strategy, will GameStop maintain the value of the deal or reduce the amount it offers? GameStop offering these prices now does not guarantee they will be available in November. That would spell trouble for the strategy, especially as GameStop faces more store closures. In addition, PS5 Pro does not come with a disc drive, and optional add-ons cost $80. Unfortunately, it’s already sold out at multiple retailers.
This strategy can also run into problems if players haven’t upgraded to PS5 yet. Without a modern console to trade in, buying a PS5 Pro will still be prohibitively expensive for some fans. But if a large number of used PS5 consoles suddenly hit the market – even with GameStop’s markup – then that might be a solution for those who haven’t jumped on board the current console generation yet.
Sony will release PS5 Pro on November 7th.
