PS4 Pro is designed to counter PC migration

It is the PC, and not the Xbox Scorpio, that’s at the heart of Sony’s decision to abandon the traditional console lifecycle with the generation refreshing PS4 Pro.

I saw some data that really influenced me. It suggested that there’s a dip mid-console lifecycle where the players who want the very best graphical experience will start to migrate to PC, because that’s obviously where it’s to be had,” SIE boss Andrew House told The Guardian.

We wanted to keep those people within our eco-system by giving them the very best and very highest [performance quality]. So the net result of those thoughts was PlayStation 4 Pro – and, by and large, a graphical approach to game improvement.”

House flatly denied that PS4 Pro was a reaction to Microsoft’s Xbox Scorpio. Indeed, Scorpio’s later release date coupled with previous comments from the platform holder suggest it could be the other way around.

When PlayStation 4 Pro was being conceived there wasn’t a word about Project Scorpio in the marketplace,” House added. I would suggest that ‘reactive’ isn’t our approach this time around.”

In the same interview House said that the PS4 Pro won’t have a 4K Blu-ray player as the company believes the 4K movie market is moving towards streaming services.