It seems the PS5 Pro has even more potential than previously thought, with new technology coming that'll give developers even more power to improve their games.
Sony and AMD have been working together on a next-level version of PSSR that could be implemented in titles from 2026.
The PS5 Pro may only be a few months old but it's due an upgrade already. A deal between Sony and AMD will reportedly result in new tech to enhance PlayStation 5 games further.
One of the main tools developers have to make their games look better on the PS5 Pro is PSSR (PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution) which can be used to intelligently upscale graphics to higher resolutions while also maintaining high frame rates and performance.
That can be found in action on several PS5 Pro Enhanced titles today, such as F1 24 and Marvel's Spider-Man 2, and is likely to be used in many more this year. However, a new upscaling tool using neural network tech is on its way that will potentially improve things further.
Expected to be implemented in PS5 Pro Enhanced games from 2026, the new technology will be based on AMD's FSR 4 – an upscaler rolling out with the brand's latest PC graphics cards. And, according to Digital Foundry (via Eurogamer) it's quite a step-up in comparison to the current PSSR.
This will result in even more visible details and crispness in games at high resolutions, while continuing to ensure they run smoothly.
The tech won't be identical – after all, the RDNA 4 infrastructure in AMD's latest GPUs is not the same as in the PS5 Pro – but the algorithms and learnings can be utilised. As explained to Digital Foundry by the console's lead system architect, Mark Cerny: "Our focus for 2025 is working with developers to integrate PSSR into their titles. In parallel, though, we have already started to implement the new neural network on PS5 Pro.
"Our target is to have something very similar to FSR 4's upscaler available on PS5 Pro for 2026 titles as the next evolution of PSSR. It should take the same inputs and produce essentially the same outputs."
That makes the future for Sony's mid-generation console look rather good – maybe even dispel rumours of a PlayStation 6 being on the immediate horizon. Indeed, we think it's unlikely we'll see a console refresh for another couple of years yet, with the "Xbox Next" also thought to be targeting 2027 at the earliest.
Time will tell, but at least the PS5 Pro will be more than adequately filling the gap in the meantime.
