Gamers are mocking Sony for price hike on new disc-free PS5 Pro

The price of the PS5 Pro console has nearly doubled in the US compared to the launch price of the PS4 Pro.

Sony unveiled the Play Station 5 Pro, its latest console, on Tuesday. The console features an upgraded GPU, advanced RayTracing, and AI-driven upscaling, among other updates, and comes with a 2TB SSD.

However, to the surprise of many, the new Sony console has no disc drive and will cost $699 in the US. This is a $200 price increase compared to the regular PS5 at the launch, which had a disc drive and also included a stand.

Users will have to buy the disc drive separately for an additional $80 if they want to play games from CDs with it.

Many criticized the high price of the new disc-less console on Reddit PS5 channels and on X.

“$700 console + $80 disc drive + tax = $820 - $410 PS5 trade-in = $410 out of pocket for slightly better looking graphics.No way to justify that, I fear,” said one Redditor.

"Easiest and hardest pass of my life. $700 USD and it doesn’t even include the disc drive? Are you freaking sh*tting me, Sony?! Looks like I am going to build a PC,” added another.

Many noted that outside of the US, the prices for the console will be even higher due to additional taxes and currency fluctuations. In Europe, the PS5 Pro will cost €799.99, and in the UK, it will be £699.99, which would be $880 and $915, respectively. In Canada, the price would be around $950.

In comparison, when the PS4 Pro was launched in 2016, it cost $399 in the US, €399 in Europe, and £349 in the UK. It also included a disc drive.

Guys you know what makes it worse lol. In 2016 the PS4 Pro was £350 and now in 2024 the PS5 Pro is £700 lmfao.. pic.twitter.com/fzdQxO6ljR

undefined SMOKE💨 (@DeceptiveSmoke_) September 10, 2024

“The PS4 Pro had an amazing technological piece of hardware called "Disc Drive" that would come for free, bundled with the console. Can you imagine that? Good times,” a Reditor mocked the company.

Some users noted that while the price increase may be partly justified by inflation, the overall increase still looks too high. A few pointed out that the price of the PS4 adjusted to inflation today would be $523.

Another point mentioned by users was that the PS5 Pro doesn’t support exclusive games.

“I’m sort of dumbfounded that they revealed this by showing old games I beat years ago. The case for an upgrade is how it handles new games compared to the PS5. All of the games they showed look and play fine on a regular console. If there are no new first party games why would I buy this now?” said a Redditor.

Device pre-orders will be available on the PlayStation website from September 26th, with the launch planned for November 7th.