Sony was working on the PS5 Pro before the PS5 even launched: "We design everything with having 1 ahead in our mind"

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"We need to make sure that the 10-year-old, generation cycle continues"

PS5 Pro reveal from trailer
(Image credit: Sony)

Sony was working on the PS5 Pro even before the PS5 launched, since the company designs "everything" while being "one ahead in our mind," Sony Interactive Entertainment's Platform Business Group CEO, Hideaki Nishino, has revealed.

This comes from a new interview with Variety alongside SIE's Studio Business Group CEO, Hermen Hulst. Nishino says the company "learned a lot" from the previous console generation's PS4 Pro, and found that "in addition to the PS4, 20% of customers actually got the PS4 Pro," too. Although "there was a conversation around whether we wanted to do another Pro or not" for the PS5, the company ultimately started working on it as "another five-year project" before the base PS5 actually launched.

The "main thing" driving that decision, Nishino says, was that "there are technologies we can grow up in three years time or five years time," especially now "innovation and technology advancement" is happening more quickly, even if the CEO doesn't see PlayStation going to yearly hardware updates akin to phones. Ultimately though, the point Nishino reiterates is that SIE constantly has its eyes on the future, and always knows where it's going next at any given point. 

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"We design everything with having one ahead in our mind. It's not like we just make a next step and we don't know about the two steps ahead," he explains. "That's not our way of working, because we need to make sure that the 10-year-old, generation cycle continues to be going as well."

Anyway, the PS5's souped-up sibling is almost upon us, as it's set to launch next week on November 7. Its enormous price tag turned plenty of heads when it was first revealed, so it remains to be seen just how successful it'll be, but with promises of faster rendering and AI-based upscaling technology for smoother visuals, there's no doubt that there'll be plenty of people hungry for the best possible PlayStation experience just waiting to dive in. 

Be sure to check out our comparison of the PS5 vs PS5 Pro specs to see how the two consoles match up. 

Catherine Lewis
Catherine Lewis
Deputy News Editor

I'm GamesRadar+'s Deputy News Editor, working alongside the rest of the news team to deliver cool gaming stories that we love. After spending more hours than I can count filling The University of Sheffield's student newspaper with Pokemon and indie game content, and picking up a degree in Journalism Studies, I started my career at GAMINGbible where I worked as a journalist for over a year and a half. I then became TechRadar Gaming's news writer, where I sourced stories and wrote about all sorts of intriguing topics. In my spare time, you're sure to find me on my Nintendo Switch or PS5 playing through story-driven RPGs like Xenoblade Chronicles and Persona 5 Royal, nuzlocking old Pokemon games, or going for a Victory Royale in Fortnite.