Although the last couple of generations of console hardware have seen Microsoft and Sony competing head to head for the more traditional, 'hardcore' gaming audience, Sony doesn't feel that this current generation of the Xbox One and PS4 has actually been that competitive. In fact when it comes to aping the competition to stay ahead of the curve, Sony has been looking to the PC this time around, rather than its console opposition.
"I saw some data that really influenced me," said head of Sony Interactive Entertainment, Andrew House, in a chat with The Guardian. "It suggested that there’s a dip mid-console lifecycle where the players who want the very best graphical experience will start to migrate to PC, because that’s obviously where it’s to be had."
This was part of the reason that Sony started building the PS4 Pro, which it's hoped will deliver a more PC-like experience to gamers who want the top of the line graphical performance, but without the problems associated with maintaining a high end PC.
"We wanted to keep those people within our ecosystem by giving them the very best and very highest [performance quality]. So the net result of those thoughts was PlayStation 4 Pro – and, by and large, a graphical approach to game improvement."
Sony claims to have sold 40 million PS4s at this point, so it doesn't see much competition from the Wii U or Xbox One, neither of which have sold anywhere near as many in comparison. Sony believes it will be able to sell another 20 million PS4 Pros by the end of its life cycle.
The PS4 Pro is expected to debut later this year, while the Xbox One Scorpio won't be available until 2017.
