Sony still doesn’t think the PS5 Pro needs a PS5 Disc Drive, even though they are sold out.
The PlayStation 5 pro is the most expensive console ever made. The $700 device should offer a big leap in performance compared to the PS5 base model. It also comes with 2TB of storage space for your games. The PS5 Pro does not come with a way to easily or cheaply play physical game discs. Even before PS5 Pro pre-orders start on Sept. 26, the disc drive users will need to play their physical copies are going fast and, in some cases, are already sold out.The day after Sony showcased the PlayStation 5 Pro,
Amazon and Best Buy’s websites showed the PS5 Disc Drive as completely sold out. As of this writing, it’s still available through GameStop, Target, Walmart, and PlayStation Direct. Gaming deals sleuth Wario64 on Twitter/X first spotted the lack of availability.It’s too early to tell if the disc drive will suffer the same availability woes as the PlayStation 5 did for the first few years after release. We can’t assume that the demand will be the same because it’s more expensive. Sony executives have previously stated that there were no stock issues
with the slim version of the PS5 released in 2023. Since 2020, the company has sold a digital version and disc drive of its PS5. However, it made the drive more modular last year. With the PS5 Pro, that’s no longer the case.Buying a Disc Drive for a PS5 Pro Makes an Expensive Console More CostlyScreenshot: Sony We don’t have sales numbers, but if these drives are selling quickly, it points to a lingering demand for physical media. I don’t have many PS5 discs, but I regularly play a large backlog of PS4 titles on my console. Sony’s $700 more powerful console is in reality a $780 product for me and other consumers. At these prices, even with a better performance of 4K 60 FPS, I could save up to buy a
quality gaming laptop
, or put down cash for an
Asus RoG AllyX. The 2 TB SSD drive is adequate for most game libraries, but it is still a tight fit. It is still possible to add an M2 SSD as extra storage on the PS5 Pro. Once installed, owning games on CDs won’t help you save much space. You might still need a second SSD if you want to install your entire library at once. These SSDs also aren’t inexpensive. A 2TB WD_Black SDD costs $260 at MSRP. Microsoft’s Xbox Series S console is still a download only console without a disc drive. Despite this, leaked documents show that it outsold Xbox Series X by three to one at least as far back as 2022. Do players care about disc drives at all? I would argue that they should. Not only is it a function of backward compatibility (the PS5 Pro should play PS4 games with some extra benefits thanks to its “Game Boost” capability) and
game preservation, but it’s also a matter of ownership. The PS5 Pro Sets a Dangerous Precedent for the Future of Physical Games Media
Companies would prefer customers not to own the content they pay for. Digital downloads from the PlayStation Store are simply licenses to view or play media. Those licenses can and have been revoked, and customers have little to no recourse. Sony’s terms
provide strict guidelines on how to keep and use the games that you purchase from the PlayStation Store. I can loan it to friends. When I’m finished, I can sell it. Even though many games require online services in order to function, owning a disc does not guarantee that you will be able play the game forever. It means that the software is still accessible. Just look at what happened to some old, online-only Xbox titles when
Microsoft deleted the Xbox 360 Store.Consoles remain one of the few pieces of tech that still allow for physical media. It would be a shame to lose the Xbox 360 Store, as there are many other issues with the gaming industry.
