PlayStation 5 drives are sold out, but Sony still doesn't think the PS5 Pro needs one

The PlayStation 5 Pro will be the most expensive modern console to date. The $700 device is said to have a Big performance leap compared to the base PS5plus, it has 2TB of storage for your games. What the PS5 Pro doesn't offer is a cheap or easy way to play any physical game discs you may own. Even before PS5 Pro pre-orders begin on September 26, the disc drives users need to play their physical copies are selling out quickly and, in some cases, are already sold out.

One day after Sony introduced the PlayStation 5 Pro, Amazon And Best Buys Websites showed that the PS5 disc drive was completely sold out. At the time of writing, it is still available through GameStop, Goal, WalmartAnd PlayStation Direct. Gaming Deals Detective Wario64 The lack of availability was first noticed on Twitter/X.

It's too early to say whether the drive will have the same availability issues as the PlayStation 5 did in the first few years after release. It's a more expensive console, so we can't assume it will have the same demand. Sony executives previously said There were no storage problems than it is the Slim version of the PS5 in 2023The company has been selling a Digital Edition and a disc drive version of its PS5 since 2020, but made the drive modular with last year's release. That's no longer the case with the PS5 Pro.

Buying a drive for a PS5 Pro makes an expensive console more expensive

We don't have sales figures, but if these drives sell quickly, that suggests continued demand for physical media. I don't own many PS5 games on disc, but I regularly resort to a large backlog of PS4 games to play on my console. For me and many other consumers, Sony's more powerful $700 console is really a $780 device. Even with improved 4K at 60 FPS performance, I could get away with a high-quality, affordable gaming laptop or a cash deposit on Asus ROG Strix XG.

The 2TB SSD is a decent drive size for most game libraries, but still tight. The PS5 Pro still has room to add your own M2 SSD for extra storage. If you own your games on discs, you won't save as much storage after installation. If you have a large library and want to install everything at once, you may still need an additional SSD. These SSDs aren't cheap either. A 2TB WD_Black SSD costs you 260 USD RRP.

The Xbox Series S from Microsoft is still a pure download console without a drive. Nevertheless leaked documents It reportedly sold three times better than the more powerful Xbox Series X, at least as of 2022. So do gamers really care about drives? Well, I'd say they definitely should. It's not just a feature of backwards compatibility (the PS5 Pro should play PS4 games with some additional benefits thanks to its “Game Boost” feature) and Wildlife conservationbut it is also a question of ownership.

The PS5 Pro sets a dangerous precedent for the future of physical gaming media

Companies would rather their customers not own the content they pay for. Digital downloads, including those from PlayStation Store, are simply licenses to view or play that media. These licenses can and were revoked, and customers have little or no opportunity to take action against it. Terms of Service provide strict policies for keeping and using the games you purchase from PlayStation Store.

Even though game discs only act as a form of physical DRM to tell the great overlords at Sony that you bought the game legally, there are other benefits to having a disc and a case. I can lend it to my friends. I can sell it when I'm done. Many games still require online services to work at all, so even owning the disc doesn't necessarily mean you'll be able to play a game forever. At the very least, it means the software on it might still be readable. Just look at what happened to some old online-only Xbox titles when Microsoft has deleted the Xbox 360 Store.

Consoles remain one of the few technologies that still allow for physical media. There are so many other problems with the gaming industry that it would be a shame if they disappeared as well.