Will the PS5 Pro Be Discounted for Black Friday?

What are the chances of the PlayStation 5 Pro getting a discount during the Black Friday sales. We discuss here.

Nov 7, 2024 - 14:00

Will the PS5 Pro Be Discounted for Black Friday?

With Black Friday just around the corner, gamers everywhere are wondering: Will Sony’s brand-new PS5 Pro be part of the holiday deals? Launched with widespread availability – unlike the infamous scarcity of the original PS5 launch – the PS5 Pro is currently in stock across major retailers, making it a prime candidate for any potential discounts.

The PS5 Pro is designed for gamers who prioritize graphics and performance, especially those with high-end TVs that can take full advantage of its power. But it comes at a premium: at $700 plus tax (and minus a disc drive), it’s an investment that makes sense if you’re looking to elevate your gaming experience. Not everyone needs it, of course; if you’re satisfied with your current visuals or aren’t particularly sensitive to frame rates, the PS5 Pro may be more of a luxury than a necessity.

Will the PS5 Pro Be On Sale for Black Friday?

While major hardware discounts aren’t always guaranteed on brand-new releases, Black Friday might bring some unexpected deals. Sony hasn’t made any announcements yet and, historically, consoles tend to go on sale only if they’re older models or bundled with games. However, some retailers could surprise shoppers with modest discounts or exclusive bundles.

The PS5 Slim, for example, was released last year at a similar time and ended up getting a free game bundle (Spider-Man 2 or Modern Warfare 3) with it at the end of November. We’ll be keeping an eye out to see if any retailers step up with a Black Friday special.

Should You Buy the PS5 Pro Now or Wait for Black Friday?

The PS5 Pro offers undeniable upgrades, but whether it’s essential depends on your gaming needs. If you’re all about graphics and have the display to support it, the Pro could be well worth the price. However, if you’re looking to save, holding out a few more weeks to see if Black Friday brings any bundles or minor discounts might be a smart move.

Be sure to check back for updates on Black Friday deals, as we’ll be following any price changes closely. Whether you jump in now or decide to wait, the PS5 Pro represents a significant leap for Sony’s console lineup and a tempting choice for those looking to elevate their gaming experience.

Looking to pick up a PS5 Pro? You can check out our guide on where to buy a PS5 Pro, Blu-ray disc drive, and vertical stand for details. You can also check out our top PS5 accessory picks by category below:

What We Said in Our Review - PS5 Pro

Here’s what Michael Higham had to say about the PS5 Pro in his review: “Considering that the PS5 generation has largely been described as 'What if the PS4 was faster?' it’s a little difficult to get all that excited about a console that promises to be a faster PS5. The PS5 Pro delivers on that, for sure, and if you find the standard PS5 leaving more to be desired from a technical perspective, it’s an intriguing prospect: running Pro-enhanced games in the new performance modes gives you essentially the old fidelity modes now targeting 60fps, sometimes with extra improvements.

“Sony’s AI-powered PSSR upscaling tech is certainly impressive when playing games that’ve been updated for it, giving console players the same type of image quality and frame rate improvements that Nvidia’s DLSS has delivered on the PC side in recent years. You’re not entirely free from compromises because you often still have to choose between that new standard and even better-looking fidelity modes at 30fps, though I’ve found going with performance an easier choice. At $700, it’s not cheap, so you have to really desire that visual upgrade knowing that it doesn’t transform the gameplay experience at a fundamental level – and to be fair, Sony never said it would. So as it stands, the PS5 Pro isn’t essential, but it is certainly nice to have.”

PS5 Pro vs. PS5: What’s New?

So, what’s all the fuss about with the PS5 Pro? For starters, it eliminates the need to pick between graphics and performance – an increasingly common trade-off in modern games.

When Mark Cerny announced the PS5 Pro, the big selling point he kept mentioning is that you won’t have to choose between graphics and performance. Many AAA games these days offer you the choice between playing a 60fps with downgraded graphics or at 30fps with clear, sharp graphics.

Per the official PlayStation Blog post announcing the system, here are the three main highlights of the upcoming console:

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.

For more techy info, check out our PS5 Pro vs. PS5 spec breakdown. And for a more experiential take on it, hop over to our PS5 Pro hands-on preview.

What Games Have PS5 Pro Enhancements?

The PS5 Pro will be backwards compatible with all games that play on the original PS5, but some games will have special PS5 Pro enhancements. Sony has confirmed a number of games that will have PS5 Pro enhancements at launch:

Alan Wake 2
Albatroz
Apex Legends
Arma Reforger
Assassin’s Creed Mirage
Baldur’s Gate 3
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
EA Sports College Football 25
Dead Island 2
Demon’s Souls
Diablo IV
Dragon Age: The Veilguard
Dragon’s Dogma 2
Dying Light 2 Reloaded Edition
EA Sports FC 25
Enlisted
F1 24
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
Fortnite
God of War Ragnarök
Hogwarts Legacy
Horizon Forbidden West
Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered
Kayak VR: Mirage
Lies of P
Madden NFL 25
Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered
Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
Naraka: Bladepoint
NBA2K 25
No Man’s Sky
Palworld
Paladin’s Passage
Planet Coaster 2
Professional Spirits Baseball 2024-2025
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
Resident Evil 4
Resident Evil Village
Rise of the Ronin
Rogue Flight
Star Wars: Jedi Survivor
Star Wars: Outlaws
Stellar Blade
Test Drive Unlimited: Solar Crown
The Callisto Protocol
The Crew Motorfest
The Finals
The First Descendant
The Last of Us Part I
The Last of Us Part II Remastered
Until Dawn
War Thunder
Warframe
World of Warships: Legends

When Is Black Friday 2024?

The actual date of Black Friday in 2024 falls on November 29 this year, but the deals season begins a lot sooner than that. Leading up to the big event, retailers will start to open deals online. This usually starts in the last week of October, just before Halloween. Each week leading up to the event will slowly roll out more deals, which ultimately leads to Black Friday. Retailers will not reveal their biggest Black Friday deals until the big day, but most general deals will be available well in advance, and we expect plenty of PS5 game deals to be included. Walmart, for example, has announced its official sale for November 11 this year.

If you want to keep up with the latest and greatest deals across each platform in general, make sure to check out our roundups of the best PlayStation deals, the best Xbox deals, and the best Nintendo Switch deals. We also have a general roundup of the best video game deals if you just want to see the highlights from each.

Robert Anderson is a deals expert and Commerce Editor for IGN. You can follow him @robertliam21 on Twitter.