Gab Hernandez 
The leaked build of Marvel’s Wolverine may have confirmed the existence of a PS5 Pro as well as a highly sought-after feature; AI upscaling.
The PS5 Pro is rumored to be the next console project from Sony, and fans have been mixed regarding the upgrade. Although improvements are always welcome, PlayStation owners are debating whether a theoretical PS5 Pro would have enough improvements to justify a purchase. After all, it wasn’t so long ago that the PS5 itself was impossible to purchase as scalpers scooped them up en masse to sell at an increased price. On top of that, there are still plenty of games being released on the previous generation of consoles.
The PS4 Pro marked a sizable technical improvement over the original PS4 but few would regard it as revolutionary, so what hope does a PS5 Pro have when it’s unlikely to offer a significant technical improvement? Yet another leak related to Marvel’s Wolverine suggests an exciting new technology may sway PlayStation owners.
Will the PS5 Pro include AI upscaling?
Leaks suggest that AI upscaling will be a core feature of the PS5 Pro.
Insomniac’s leaked Wolverine game included a list of features. “AI Upscaling (Machine Learning)” was one of the most notable inclusions.
To break down the term, AI in this case refers to machine learning, a system that “predicts” what the end result should be. Typically, upscaling an image often results in a loss of resolution. This is simply because there are fewer pixels to work with.
AI Upscaling seeks to rectify this issue by using machine learning to “fill in” those lost pixels. AI Upscaling is a technology often used for sports broadcasts, where the fast-paced action can get smudged when zoomed in from afar.
AI upscaling in video games is a potentially powerful tool because it can allow for models and textures to be rendered at a lower resolution. Rendering at a lower resolution requires fewer resources from the hardware and allows for improved performance, and AI upscaling fixes the loss in graphical fidelity. This allows for an overall better experience and has been rumored to be a planned for the next-gen consoles of both Nintendo and Xbox.
The base PS5 doesn’t support AI upscaling, which strongly suggests the existence of a PS5 Pro. It’s possible the feature is a misnomer and is instead referring to “neural-network texture upsampling,” which was used in God of War: Ragnarok. Given that Marvel’s Wolverine is years away from release and that Insomniac Games works very closely with Sony, the game is uniquely positioned to incorporate features from yet-to-be-released PlayStation hardware.
When will the PS5 Pro be released?
The PS5 Pro is speculated to come out in Q4 2024, according to leakers. The PS5 Pro is said to have been in development since early 2022. A Q4 release would coincide with the holidays.
As for how much it will cost, a price hike similar to the one from PS4 to PS4 Pro is likely.
The PS5 currently retails at $399 for Digital and $499 for Standard. In the three years since its release, the PS5’s retail price has not changed. In contrast, the PS4, which was originally priced at $399, was already $299 by the time the PS4 Pro rolled around. The PS4 Pro was priced at $399.
Depending on how many features the PS5 Pro has, gamers are expected to shore up their wallets if they want to get the next PlayStation offering. The PS5 is still enjoying very strong sales, so Sony may not feel compelled to lower the price.
