Totoki said that PS5 Pro preorders are “slightly stronger” than PS4 Pro…
Not unexpected… I work with the prediction of PS5 Pro ratio a bit better than PS4 Pro.
It won't hold long-term. Missing persistent market factors and (potentially) impending outside economic factors will soften PS5 Pro sales in the long run. But for the immediate launch phase, I don't think anyone was saying it'd perform badly or launch softer than PS4 Pro. There was no reason to speculate that.
However, and this is with PS5 in general, I do not think GTA6 is going to create this massive boon in hardware sales some are thinking/hoping. The official trailer has been out for a year now and platforms known. A good amount of people over the past year have already purchased a PS5 (or in less cases, a Series X or S) in anticipation for the game. There are people buying the Pro right now, in anticipation for the game. There are even people who've bought PS5s and Xboxes over the past 3-4 years in anticipation for GTA6, knowing the game's inevitably coming. Just a matter of when.
Considering I don't expect a Pro price cut or sales promotions within its first year (otherwise it'd signal desperation or worry over extreme underperformance), the only way SIE can likely get the type of massive unit sales bumps some are speculating, is with temporary sales promos in markets like America in time for GTA6's release. That such'll likely coincide with Black Friday and Christmas gives the reasoning, but like all sales promos, it'll be for a limited period. I don't expect any permanent price cut for PS5 within the next year. Also not expecting any GTA6 bundles.
Lastly insofar as how much a boost GTA6 is for PS5 in particular, is going to depend on:
A: How long it takes for a PC port to release
B: How long it takes for a Switch 2 port to release (a Switch 2 port IS happening, I strongly believe this)
C: If next-gen Xbox is actually a console/PC-like hybrid, has good enough volume production, and releases in 2026 as rumored
All three things will naturally depreciate the selling power of GTA6 for PS5 but it's also ranked in order of most-to-least impactful. Thing is though, I expect all three to happen at roughly the same time frame or within the span of a year from one another, but if T2 are smart, the PC port would be saved for last as an early 2027 release timed with the deployment of next-gen GTA Online.
