The latest PlayStation 4 Pro console from Sony has officially launched and for better or for worse, we have to deal with them releasing one every so often in order to stay relevant in this ever-changing landscape. But to their detriment, several reports have surfaced that the PlayStation 4 Pro is suffering from horrible performance issues, some consoles setting ablaze, and not to mention the few that refuse to work with your HDR televisions due to firmware problems. Microsoft must ensure they don’t repeat these to convince gamers of their vision. The main problem Microsoft must avoid are the performance issues.
Widespread performance issues were reported pretty much after launch when Digital Foundry noted that the PlayStation 4 Pro suffered from frame pacing issues and dips that the entry-level model did not have. Moreover, games like The Last of Us: Remastered suffer from this too even with it being a PlayStation 3 game that was ported to the PlayStation 4 at launch. It remains to be seen if developers can fix these issues since the PlayStation 4 Pro is technically twice as fast as the entry-level console. The Pro console does have one issue that few have addressed, and this is the weak CPU it sports making the rather hefty GPU upgrade quite moot. This might be causing the performance issues in CPU-dependent games.
Other than the horrible performance issues, the PlayStation 4 Pro has reportedly set fire to itself with several overheating reports surfacing online. Sony has yet to acknowledge these as fact, but that will be rare for the company who won’t take responsibility for their networks being hacked. For those wondering, hundreds of users have contacted Sony today about hacked accounts and missing funds…but that’s a discussion for another time.
Some reports have also noted that the PlayStation 4 Pro is having issues with 4K HDR sets, with some sets refusing to output images to the televisions due to some firmware issues on the Pro. LG have come out blaming Sony for the lack of updates to their console since the Xbox One S suffered a similar issue but was fixed almost immediately by Microsoft. Sony has blamed the TV manufacturers for this issue at the time of writing. Maybe they’ll accept it’s a firmware issue soon.
Lessons Learned
With the gaming community so tightly knit, it will remain to be seen if these reports start becoming viral like influence. With Samsung’s Note phones suffering five or so battery issues, the entire line had to be scrapped due to hysterical media outlets. It’s pretty much known what the gaming media and gamers, in general, overreacting to the proposed direction the Xbox brand was moving towards, led to. The brand suffered greatly for that hysteria.
Microsoft can learn from these problems the PlayStation 4 Pro is suffering from. When Microsoft’s Project Scorpio launches next year, their message and roll-out should be on point. Sony has suffered from a confusing message with some gamers calling the Pro “a pointless upgrade” for most people. The Xbox Scorpio needs to show real-world improvements and hold true to its main premise of giving hardcore gamers a true 4K experience without any compromises. That means that there can’t be reports of widespread frame rate issues like what’s going on with the PlayStation 4 Pro right now. Microsoft just can’t afford to do that. I can’t stress this enough. Phil Spencer and his team need to make sure that the games which promise 4K on Xbox Scorpio are perfect in terms of performance, even third-party games. If they can’t deliver on that, then the console will be labeled weak and a vicious cycle of negative press will start again.
It remains to be seen how Microsoft manages the launch of the console. Xbox Scorpio has already dampened the need for the PlayStation 4 Pro, and the Xbox One S is destroying the low-end for Sony as well given worldwide sales charts for the past four months. If Microsoft can keep their message on point, they’ll dominate. However, this all depends on a smooth launch devoid of the performance issues many games running at 4K on PlayStation 4 Pro are reporting. Here’s hoping it goes well.
Dreyer was a regular ICXM contributor between 2016–2017, publishing 139 articles across opinion pieces, game reviews, Windows and PC, and Xbox news. Their work focused on hands-on reviews, platform commentary, and breaking-news reporting during the Xbox One X launch year and Microsoft’s wider Play Anywhere / UWP gaming initiative. They post on X as @dreyer_smit.