Today, Sony Interactive Entertainment expands the PlayStation 5 (PS5) family of products with the release of the new PlayStation 5 Pro (PS5 Pro) console - the company's most advanced and innovative gaming console to date. PlayStation 5 Pro was designed with deeply engaged players and game creators in mind and includes key performance features that allow games to run with higher fidelity graphics at smoother frame rates.

"With PlayStation 5 Pro, we wanted to make sure that the most dedicated gamers, as well as game creators, could utilize the most advanced console technology, taking the PlayStation 5 experience even farther," said Hideaki Nishino, CEO Platform Business Group, Sony Interactive Entertainment. "This is our most advanced PlayStation to date, and it gives our community of players the opportunity to experience games the way that developers intended for them to be. Players will be thrilled with how this console enhances some of their favorite titles, while opening avenues to discover new ones."

Many gamers have been skeptical of the recently announced Sony PS5 Pro since the day it was announced, largely due to the high price and the perceived lack of meaningful improvements. It seemed to many as though the PS5 Pro was simply a meaningless mid-cycle cash-grab with a few extra features tacked onto the top, however, it looks like Sony and its development partners have put in the work to make the PS5 Pro experience fresh and worthwhile. According to a new post on the official PlayStation Blog, the new console will launch with at least 50 confirmed "Enhanced" games.

What exactly Sony means by Enhanced is rather nebulous, since many of the Enhanced games for the PS5 Pro have a mishmash of different Pro features. For example, Resident Evil Village gets the full 120 FPS treatment, while Horizon Forbidden West only gets a bump up to 4K at 60 FPS. Stellar Blade, on the other hand, only gets an FPS boost to 80 FPS or 50 FPS at 4K. It's likely that, like Stellar Blade, all the titles aiming for higher refresh rates on the PS5 Pro are using some mix of PSSR, dedicated AI acceleration, and traditional rasterization rendering techniques to achieve the increased frame rates. Both The Last of Us Part I and The Last of Us II Remastered will run at 60 FPS on the PS5 Pro, but they will render at 1440p and use PSSR to upscale to 4K output.

Cloud9, one of the world's leading esports organizations, has announced a new collaboration with Sony Electronics, who will serve as the official monitor provider for Cloud9 New York, its premier Call of Duty team. Sony will equip the team with cutting-edge Sony INZONE monitors, ensuring players have access to top-tier technology as they prepare for intense competition in the upcoming Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 season.

The Sony INZONE M10S monitors, specifically designed for competitive gaming, are set to provide the Cloud9 New York team with exceptional visual clarity, responsiveness, and performance as they gear up for the 2025 Call of Duty season. The 27" INZONE M10S OLED QHD Gaming Monitor offers a lightning-fast 480 Hz refresh rate and a response time of up to 0.03 ms GtG, allowing for unparalleled speed. Developed alongside professional esports players, its compact, esports-driven design features a 4 mm thin base for a smaller desk footprint, as well as a 24.5-inch mode and FPS Pro+ Modes. These state-of-the-art displays are poised to enhance player precision and reaction time, giving Cloud9 New York a critical edge in competition.

Sony Electronics Inc. today announced two new wireless earbuds to their LinkBuds range with the LinkBuds Fit and LinkBuds Open, as well as the new LinkBuds Speaker. The LinkBuds Fit and LinkBuds Open models offer authentic, high-quality sound as well as newly developed Air Fitting Supporters and accessories that come in multiple color options for unrivalled sound, comfort, and style.

Since the LinkBuds series first launched in 2022 with a unique ring design, its focus has been on comfort and linking the online and offline world. This continues within the new LinkBuds range with improvements made based on valuable customer feedback to offer a seamless always-on experience, without compromising great sound.

Sucker Punch, developer of the wildly popular Ghost of Tsushima, recently announced Ghost of Yōtei as the follow-up to Ghost of Tsushima and confirmed that this is only the beginning of a seemingly expansive franchise. Ghost of Yōtei is the first indirect sequel to Ghost of Tsushima to take place in what Sony calls the Ghost franchise and follows a new character, Atsu, on a quest for revenge in feudal Japan. It will launch on PS5 in 2025, although Sony has yet to reveal a firm release date.

In an interview with The New York Times, Sucker Punch revealed that it had already started planning Ghost of Yōtei as a follow-up to Ghost of Tsushima before the original game was even announced. It also revealed that it had already started working with Chad Stahelski, director of the John Wick franchise, on a cinematic adaptation of Ghost of Tsushima, and that there are other games coming to the Ghost franchise in the future.

Sony has today added to its INZONE gaming gear range with the INZONE M10S - a 27-inch OLED gaming monitor that is changing the game with super high 480 Hz refresh rate, 0.03 ms response time and QHD resolution. Co-developed with leading esports team Fnatic, the INZONE M10S is designed to be tournament ready thanks to a 24.5-inch playing mode and new FPS Pro modes.

Sony is also introducing the INZONE M9 II - an update to its 4K HDR gaming monitor with backlight scanning added to improve motion clarity.

Sony Semiconductor Solutions Corporation (SSS) today announced the upcoming release of the ECX350F, a 0.44-type Full HD resolution OLED Microdisplay that combines the industry's smallest 5.1 µm pixels (approximately 5,000 ppi) with the industry's highest brightness of up to 10,000 cd/m².

The ECX350F is an OLED Microdisplay designed for use in augmented reality (AR) glasses, an application which demands a thin, lightweight form factor without compromising visibility. Adopting a novel OLED structure and microlenses, the microdisplay enhances pixel light emission despite its diminutive size. This innovation allows for Full HD resolution within a compact 0.44-inch panel while delivering a peak brightness of 10,000 cd/m² — approximately double that of the conventional model. This new product represents a breakthrough that addresses the longstanding challenge of delivering high brightness with small pixels.

As we continue our celebrations leading up to the 30th anniversary of the first PlayStation console launch, we have a special treat to reveal today that brings the past together with the present. Introducing our PlayStation 30th Anniversary Collection to celebrate this wonderful milestone.

The new limited edition designs pay homage to 30 wonderful years of gaming, a journey made possible by the passion and support of our fans and talented game developers. Reminiscent of the very first PlayStation console to launch on December 3, 1994, this limited edition offering utilizes the original PlayStation color design and integrates it into the latest line of PS5 hardware products.

The $699.99 MSRP of the Sony PlayStation 5 Pro is a source of outrage on social media, but what if we told you that the new premium console is in fact cheaper than what the PlayStation 3 cost at launch for even its cheapest variant? Sony launched the PlayStation 3 in 2006, with its cheapest variant that came with a 20 GB hard drive, at $499, in the US. A premium variant with a 60 GB HDD cost $599. Both models included a Blu-ray drive, as physical media was the prevalent mode of game distribution. In comes inflation. $599 in 2006 money is approximately $930 in today's money, while $499 (2006) in today's money is approximately $780.

Even the cheapest variant of the PlayStation 3 cost 11% more at launch than the PlayStation 5 Pro, adjusted by inflation, while the premium variant cost 24% more. The PlayStation 5 Pro is digital-only, and lacks an optical drive, which can be purchased separately for $80. Adding this cost, the PS5 Pro with a separately purchased optical drive costs exactly as much as the base model PlayStation 3 with 20 GB HDD did, back in 2006, adjusted by inflation.

Over the last four years since the launch of PS5, we've worked hard to continuously evolve the console experience and deliver the great games our players expect from us. Today, I'm incredibly proud to announce the next step in that evolution and welcome PlayStation 5 Pro to the PlayStation family - our most advanced and innovative console hardware to date.

We developed PS5 Pro with deeply engaged players and game creators in mind - as many have asked for a console that runs even higher fidelity graphics with smoother frame rates at 60 FPS. We achieved this on PS5 Pro with several key performance features.

• Upgraded GPU: With PS5 Pro, we are upgrading to a GPU that has 67% more Compute Units than the current PS5 console and 28% faster memory. Overall, this enables up to 45% faster rendering for gameplay, making the experience much smoother.
• Advanced Ray Tracing: We've added even more powerful ray tracing that provides more dynamic reflection and refraction of light. This allows the rays to be cast at double, and at times triple, the speeds of the current PS5 console.
• AI-Driven Upscaling: We're also introducing PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution, an AI-driven upscaling that uses a machine learning-based technology to provide super sharp image clarity by adding an extraordinary amount of detail.

Sony is widely expected to announce its new premium PlayStation 5 Pro game console later today. The PlayStation Twitter handle posted that a PlayStation 5 technical presentation hosted by Mark Cerny (PlayStation systems lead architect) would stream later today, without specifying PlayStation 5 Pro. The announcement stream will be rather brisk, spanning only 9 minutes, but it seems enough for Cerny to provide a detailed rundown of what to expect from the PS5 Pro, since this is a premium variant of the existing PS5 generation, and not a "PlayStation 6." The PlayStation 5 Pro is being designed to offer 4K Ultra HD gameplay at native, or near-native resolution, with added eye-candy, thanks to its significantly updated graphics processor.

Black Myth: Wukong is undoubtedly 2024's best-selling game, so far. Released in August 2024 and gaining 18M sales within two weeks, PC and PS5 users have been enjoying this game since its release, and Xbox gamers have just been sitting at the back seat missing out on all the fun. Now, GameStop has taken advantage of the situation, offering two options to the Series S users.

GameStop posted on X, offering Series S users a trade in price of $272.50 in exchange for their Xbox S, which is not far off from the price of a new Xbox Series S, $289.99. With no release date for the game on Xbox, players on the Series S might be tempted to jump ship. Either the gamers remain patient and wait for the game to come to the console, or they trade in their Series S, and perhaps use credit to purchase a PS5 and enjoy the game that has been making waves in the gaming community recently.

When it comes to live service games, it's not a new thing to hear of shutdowns, commercial issues, low player counts and player downturns. We've seen many games that have ended up the same way as Concord in the past, but now, it seems the record has been broken by Concord, the fastest game to get shutdown, and with a tech giant behind it.

Sony saw its 8 years of development and thousands to millions of dollars of investments crash within 11 days after its release. And it's kind of shocking because Firewalk started developing the game 8 years ago, in 2016. But when you realize that the 11 days Concord stayed in the market is actually shorter than other games who got shut down after their release, it's pretty shocking.

A Microsoft spokesperson confirmed that the delay of Black Myth Wukong on Xbox is not due to the platform's technological limitations but something else entirely. Black Myth: Wukong is a widely known game, reaching a large amount of sales within few months after launch. This well known Black Myth: Wukong, is available for PC and PlayStation 5 players, however one direct competitor is missing. Microsoft's representatives reiterate that Black Myth: Wukong would launch on Xbox soon, but the delay is not due to technological limitations but a case of timed exclusivity by a direct rival, Sony PlayStation.

This claim by the Microsoft representative may be true, after all, before the current generations, Microsoft boasted that their Xbox Series X would be the most powerful household console till date, that surpasses the performance of direct rivals. So that alone may clear the doubts about delay of the game due to platform limitations. Another reason to believe it is because, this isn't the first time we've heard that Sony signed a timed exclusivity contract with devs of a highly potential game title. To avoid competition with direct competitors and just watch the show from the front seat, it's possible that Sony may have done the same again. But then again, it could also be that the developers found out about the technological gaps between the two platforms and decided to hold back the game for a few optimizations before launch. And what the representatives are saying, is just a way to divert the attention from the platform's limitations.

Sony Electronics Inc. today announced the MDR-M1 Reference Closed Monitor Headphones, designed for music creators and sound engineers to produce music in any environment, heard as intended. The headphones host a closed acoustic structure with high sound isolation, exclusively developed driver, and a lightweight and comfortable design that allow users to create in their own environments, as if they were in the studio. The MDR-M1 headphones combine studio sound quality with extreme comfort and reliability, suitable for a wide range of music production and high-resolution audio applications.

Sound Characteristics
The MDR-M1 offers studio sound quality with a carefully tuned acoustic structure to support a wide range of music production, all while offering high-resolution audio. At the core of the sound quality is a uniquely developed driver unit that achieves ultra-wideband playback (5 Hz - 80 kHz), featuring a combination of a soft edge shape to reproduce low frequencies with sufficient volume and low distortion, and a hard dome shape to accurately reproduce ultra-high frequencies.

Sony Electronics Inc. today announced two new native 4K laser home cinema projectors, the BRAVIA Projector 8 and BRAVIA Projector 9. Both are the first projectors to include the XR Processing technology, Sony's cutting-edge BRAVIA TV video processing, enabling powerful picture features made for the movie buffs, sports fans, and avid gamers.

The new projectors are the first to join Sony's comprehensive BRAVIA home cinema line-up, made available alongside the BRAVIA TVs and BRAVIA Theatre home audio products. BRAVIA is designed to enhance the authenticity of cinematic content, delivering impressive picture and sound at home as the filmmakers intended. These new projectors offer exceptional image clarity, color, and contrast as well as professional-grade visual experiences inside the home.

This could very well be what the elusive new PlayStation 5 console looks like. DeaLabs illustrated its design as part of its article compiling all rumored tech specs of the console. The console's body retains the essential design of the digital-only variant of PlayStation 5, and its refresh. The disc variant of PlayStation 5 has a crease accent running along its side panels, toward the top one-quarter. The PS5 Pro possibly has more crease accents in its place, possibly even serving as a set of air vents. This is only a 2-color illustration, which means the console could have a unique body color scheme, too.

The PlayStation 5 Pro is being designed for a nearly 2-3 times performance uplift over the original PlayStation 5, and its 6 nm mid-lifecycle refresh. AMD remains the SoC supplier for the PS5 Pro, and its chip is codenamed "Viola." This chip could be built on a more advanced foundry node than even the 6 nm "Oberon Plus" powering the PS5 (refresh). It is a semi-custom chip in the true sense, as it has a unique mix of AMD IP blocks from several generations.

TrendForce's latest report reveals that shipments of near-eye displays are expected to increase year-by-year over the next few years following inventory clearance. It is anticipated that OLEDoS will dominate the high-end VR/MR market, with its technological share rising to 23% by 2030, while LCD will continue to occupy the mainstream market, holding a 63% share in near-eye displays.

TrendForce defines VR/MR devices as near-eye displays that achieve an immersive experience through a single display. Devices emphasizing transparency and the integration of virtual and real-world applications are classified as AR devices.

Schneider Electric, the leader in digital transformation of energy management and automation, has today announced the availability of its APC Back-UPS Pro Gaming uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) in Europe. Celebrating 40 years of Legendary Reliability and leadership in critical power protection during 2024, the new, stylish, and state-of-the-art UPS has been designed to protect gaming equipment from power outages and deliver a robust power connection, despite energy spikes and failures.

Back-UPS Pro Gaming has been specifically designed with gamers, streamers, and influencers in mind, delivering uninterruptible power protection, even in regions where the grid is unstable, keeping GPU-powered PCs, leading consoles, streamers, and gamers connected to both their online gaming experiences and audiences, regardless of power disruptions. To deliver robust protection, APC Back-UPS Pro Gaming UPS features sine wave battery backup power - delivering the smooth electrical current required by sensitive electronics and AVR (Automatic Voltage Regulation), and helping to protect against power irregularities that can result in glitches and buffering during an outage to extend the lifespan of gaming equipment.

It appears that Sony decided to sneak out a new product during the already busy Computex week of new product announcements. This is something many PC gamers have been waiting for, at least those interested in VR gaming. Although the device itself is a rather nondescript black box with a cable at one end, it delivers what many have been hoping for, PC support for Sony's PlayStation VR2 headset. The little black box has inputs for the PlayStation VR2 headset and a single DisplayPort 1.4 input which is connected to your graphics card of choice, as well as a USB port for communication with the PC and a power input of some kind. The only potential downside here is that the adapter won't work with some gaming laptops that only have HDMI display output.

Sony's system requirements are rather pedestrian, although the company is recommending a GeForce RTX 3060 or an AMD Radeon RX 6600XT or better graphics card, for best performance. Another minimum requirement which not everyone might have on their desktop systems, is support for Bluetooth 4.0 or later, but this can easily be resolved with a cheap USB dongle. Sony didn't reveal the full hardware details, which makes it unclear if an extra power source is needed, but it's clear from one of the two photos provided by the company, that there's more to it than just the DisplayPort and USB cables. The adapter doesn't work on PC without a lot of caveats though, as "HDR, headset feedback, eye tracking, adaptive triggers, and haptic feedback (other than rumble), are not available when playing on PC" according to Sony's blog post. The PlayStation VR2 PC Adapter also requires the Sony PlayStation VR2 app to be installed and for now it appears to only be working with Steam VR. The adapter will be available in retail on the 7th of August for an MSRP of $59.99 / €59.99 / £49.99.

With handheld gaming devices being all the rage these days, thanks to PC manufacturers getting into the form-factor; the conditions seem ripe for a new PlayStation handheld generation. Rumors of Sony working on a new gaming handheld first surfaced in February 2024 from a Moore's Law is Dead report, and now other leakers are resonating the theory. This is a fully fledged handheld console that runs games locally, unlike the PlayStation Portal, which was a cloud gaming endpoint device.

The PlayStation 4 debuted a decade ago, with SoC hardware specs that can easily be match by current-generation AMD Ryzen Z1 APUs, in handheld console power footprints; and the leakers tend to agree—the new handheld console will be able to play all the games from the PlayStation 4 library, besides its own unique crop of games that take advantage of certain handheld human interface features, such as a touchscreen, accelerometer, and gyro.

On Friday, Sony announced that Helldivers 2, a 3rd person squad-based shooter from Arrowhead, will require a PlayStation Network (PSN) account for gamers to link, in addition to their Steam accounts. However, that caused quite a stir in the gaming community, especially in the form of negative reviews on Steam. Since the May 2 announcement of mandatory PSN account linking, the game received more than 200,000 negative reviews from gamers. Not only is the PSN account another layer of log-in details, but it also doesn't work in 177 countries, effectively preventing gamers from those 177 countries from purchasing and enjoying the game. Arrowhead Studios CEO and Helldivers 2 Creative Director Johan Pilestedt noted that over the weekend, there were talks with Sony about reversing the decision.

Today, we have the information that Sony has reviewed its course and that the update requiring a PSN account, planned for May 6, will not be moving forward. This means that the game is PSN-free, and gamers are able to enjoy it on their Steam accounts. It has also been reported on Reddit that some users received refunds from Steam, even when their purchase was over two months old, and they had played 120+ hours of the game. As per the GDPR, terms that are changed after the agreement is made require action from the seller. This has resulted in Steam stepping up for gamers and issuing a refund for Helldivers 2, as PSN account linking was optional upon release. Gamers have shown their collective power, and Sony has managed to reverse its decision so that no further harm is done.

Looking for a new pair of earbuds? You don't have to pay premium prices if you shop open-box models. Simply put, they have imperfect packaging, so they're heavily discounted. These Sony LinkBuds S wireless noise-canceling earbuds are $99.99 (reg. $199.99) for an open-box pair. That's 50% in savings and they come in black and white.

Get AI-based noise reduction that's programmed with more than 500 million samples to actively suppress outside noise and enhance your listening experience. The earbuds also adjust ambient sound settings if you're hoping to be aware of your surroundings. The Sony LinkBuds S pair with two Bluetooth devices simultaneously, so you can connect to your smartphone and laptop and easily work and take calls without having to switch between the two. They also have an auto-play feature that starts your music after putting the earbuds in or ending a call.

Grab your open-box pair of Sony LinkBuds S wireless noise-canceling earbuds for $99.99 (reg. $199.99) while supplies last.

Fanatec is pleased to announce that it is continuing as an Official Licensee of Formula 1 and Official Provider of Formula 1 Sim Racing with a new multi-year agreement. Since 2018, both parties have continued to push the boundaries of real-world motorsport and sim racing, giving fans across the world the chance to experience the rush and thrill of the world's greatest sports and entertainment spectacle in their own home, and in the Fan Zones and Paddock Club of Formula 1 races across the globe. As part of the new deal, Fanatec will also continue as the Official Provider of Formula 1 Sim Racing, supplying teams and drivers with a full racing set up including a steering wheel, pedals, direct drive wheel base, and cockpit. Round three of the 2024 F1 Sim Racing Championship will take place on May 7.

The ClubSport Racing Wheel F1 is the latest officially licensed F1 hardware package from Fanatec, combining a new F1 Steering Wheel with unique blue forged carbon finish together with the acclaimed 15Nm ClubSport DD+ Wheel Base. Officially licensed by PlayStation for PS5 and PS4 consoles, this product was developed under the official licensing and approval of Sony Interactive Entertainment.

Thanks for the detailed information obtained by The Verge, today we confirm previously leaked details as Sony gears up to unveil the highly anticipated PlayStation 5 Pro, codenamed "Trinity." According to insider reports, Sony is urging developers to optimize their games for the PS5 Pro, with a primary focus on enhancing ray tracing capabilities. The console is expected to feature an RDNA 3 GPU with 30 WGP running BVH8, capable of 33.5 TeraFLOPS of FP32 single-precision computing power, and a slightly quicker CPU running at 3.85 GHz, enabling it to render games with ray tracing enabled or achieve higher resolutions and frame rates in select titles. Sony anticipates GPU rendering on the PS5 Pro to be approximately 45 percent faster than the standard PlayStation 5. The PS5 Pro GPU will be larger and utilize faster system memory to bolster ray tracing performance, boasting up to three times the speed of the regular PS5.

Additionally, the console will employ a more powerful ray tracing architecture, backed by PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution (PSSR), allowing developers to leverage graphics features like ray tracing more extensively. To support this endeavor, Sony is providing developers with test kits, and all games submitted for certification from August onward must be compatible with the PS5 Pro. Insider Gaming, the first to report the full PS5 Pro specs, suggests a potential release during the 2024 holiday period. The PS5 Pro will also feature modifications for developers regarding system memory, with Sony increasing the memory bandwidth from 448 GB/s to 576 GB/s, enhancing efficiency for an even more immersive gaming experience. To do AI processing, there is an custom AI accelerator capable of 300 8-bit INT8 TOPS and 67 16-bit FP16 TeraFLOPS, in addition to ACV audio codec running up to 35% faster.