Sony wants 60fps PS5 Pro “Enhanced” games, but it’s happy to settle for less

Sony is working on a new “high-end version” of the PS5, codenamed Trinity and likely to debut as the PS5 Pro later this year. The Verge confirmed leaked specs about the PS5 Pro earlier this week, and we’ve also obtained details on how existing and new PS5 games can be “enhanced” to take advantage of the PS5 Pro hardware. Sony is also working on an ultra-boost mode for older games to make them run better on the PS5 Pro.

Sources familiar with Sony’s plans tell The Verge that Sony is asking developers to create a new PS5 Pro-exclusive graphics mode in games that combines Sony’s new PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution (PSSR) upscaling to 4K resolution with a 60fps frame rate and ray-tracing effects. Insider Gaming first reported on some of these Enhanced PS5 Pro game details last month.

While Sony wants this new mode in games, the PS5 Pro “Enhanced” label will still be available for a variety of other scenarios that include 30fps games. Developers have the option of increasing the target resolution for PS5 Pro games that run at a fixed resolution on PS5 or even increasing the target maximum resolution for games that run at a variable resolution on PS5.

That could mean we see PS5 Pro Enhanced games that run at between 1080p and 1440p resolution at 30fps on the base PS5 and run between 1280p and 2160p on the PS5 Pro at the same frame rate. A fixed resolution increase from 1440p to 2160p would also qualify as a PS5 Pro Enhanced game. Developers could also choose to enable ray-tracing effects and get the PS5 Pro Enhanced label without improving resolution or frame rates. If a developer wants to target 60fps instead of 30fps with the same resolution, this may also qualify as a PS5 Pro Enhanced game.

Simply running a game at a more stable frame rate on PS5 Pro is not enough for the Enhanced label, though. Sony also won’t add the label to games that run with a variable resolution and see increased resolution on the PS5 Pro that doesn’t improve the maximum resolution. So if a game moves from 1440p–2160p variable to 1800p–2160p variable, this will not qualify for the Enhanced label.

Developers will need to update their games to Sony’s latest SDK to take advantage of PS5 Pro features, but some games that haven’t been updated will still benefit from better performance on the upcoming console. I understand that the PS5 Pro will have an “ultra-boost” mode that will help VRR modes run at a higher frame rate, and games with a variable resolution may render at higher resolutions. Overall frame rates may be more stable in certain games, too.

Sony does warn developers that many unpatched games won’t show improvements in this ultra-boost mode, though. Games that run at a fixed resolution and graphical settings for fixed rendering resolutions won’t show improvements. Even if developers remain on older versions of Sony’s SDK, they can still utilize PSSR to upscale titles and get access to the additional system memory that Sony is offering game developers.

The requirements for the PS5 Pro Enhanced label seem largely similar to what Sony did with the PS4 Pro, and there’s some clear flexibility here so developers can pick what they want to improve. If a game qualifies for the Enhanced label, it can be displayed on disc packaging and on Sony’s PlayStation Store pages.