Sony just announced the mid-generation refresh of the PS5. Geoff Keighley’s tweet gives a very good summary of the three main features of the console. The price is set at £699.99 in the UK, without a disc drive or a vertical stand.

I buy a lot of physical games, play them, and either keep them for replaying or sell them. Most of the games I’ve bought have been sold on Facebook Marketplace. I got a copy of Spider-Man: Miles Morales for £20, played it to completion, and sold it for £20 again ,meaning I didn’t spend a penny to play (and enjoy) that game. So, I do intend to get a disc drive if I upgrade to the PS5 Pro.

This, however, makes an already expensive PS5 Pro even more costly. My breakdown is below (based on UK pricing):

• Ps5 Pro = £700
• Disc Drive = £100
• Vertical stand = £25

This brings the total to £825, which feels excessive! As a side note, if you like a bit of trivia, this is the exact amount of SSD storage you get on the original PS5 (825GB).

I purchased the disc version of the PS5 in 2020 for £449, and £825 for the PS5 Pro feels excessive. I will sell my existing PS5 if I decide to upgrade. If I make a guess and assume I can sell my current PS5 for £300, the PS5 Pro upgrade will cost me £525.

For £525, I’ll get a faster console and an upgrade to a 2TB SSD (which the PS5 Pro comes with). I always delete games after playing them, so while this 2TB upgrade is great, I would have personally preferred a disc drive instead of the 2TB for £700, as the 825GB SSD on the PS5 was never a problem for me. Well, ideally, I would have wanted a 2TB SSD, a disc drive, and a vertical stand for £700 (or even less), but that’s too much to ask.

I don’t want to blame Xbox for Sony’s high pricing, but I feel that if Microsoft were releasing a mid-generation refresh too, the PS5 Pro might be more reasonably priced. The lack of competition is why we are in this situation. Where competition exists, prices get pushed down and consumers benefit. That said, the PS5 is still much cheaper than building an equivalent gaming PC.

Pre-orders for the new console start on the 26th of September, and the console launches on the 7th of November. I have a bit of time to decide if I am going to upgrade. Regardless of whether you or I upgrade, if history is any indication, this thing is going to sell out fast.