Following the reveal of the PS5 Pro earlier this week, one of the talking points that's been cropping up has been about whether the next generation of Xbox and PlayStation may be adopting a much higher price point in general.
There's obviously been a lot of criticism over the $699.99 price tag for the PS5 Pro, but speaking this week, analysis firm Ampere pointed out a variety of reasons why Sony will have chosen to go so high - and one of those is because Xbox didn't decide to make a like-for-like competitor. Here's a bit of what the firm had to say:
"PS5 Pro pricing reflects Sony’s adjusted strategy to protect its margin, general supply chain inflation and a lack of direct competitor to its mid-cycle upgrade compared to last generation (where Microsoft was preparing the Xbox One X). The lack of competition means it is an easier decision for Sony to run with a higher price point to protect its existing margins."
This might sound like Ampere is placing the blame on Microsoft for the PS5 Pro's extortionate price, but ultimately the statement makes sense - if there was an Xbox Series X Pro, would we have seen a lower price across the board?
We'll ultimately never know (unless Microsoft springs a late surprise on us), but the success or failure of the PS5 Pro may well have a big impact on what kind of pricing we see with the next Xbox and PlayStation consoles in the future.