SCIENCE & TECH: I’ve spent hundreds of hours testing the best PS5 Pro games, and now that the console has dropped to a lowest-ever price, I can’t recommend it enough for what’s to come in 2026

Having picked up a PS5 Pro at launch in November of last year, I was pretty set on the idea that the upgraded console would take a few years to really become a must-purchase for the general consumer. Since then, however, games like Monster Hunter Wilds and Assassin’s Creed Shadows have been massively improved by the PS5 Pro’s beefed-up specs, and I’m now betting Sony’s most powerful console could be the company’s secret weapon moving forward.

This is all massively bolstered by the recent PS5 Pro Black Friday deals, which offer the console at just $649 (was $749), and just £575 (was £695) in the UK, the lowest ever price since launch. Even more astounding is that this puts the PS5 Pro at a cheaper price than the Xbox Series X, which, while being Microsoft’s most powerful competitor, features lower specs and performance than Sony’s offering.

With PS5 Black Friday deals being particularly excellent this year, I can’t really recommend the PS5 Pro enough, as it’s clearly the best console to play games on currently.

The deals above take the PS5 Pro to its lowest ever price in the UK and the US. In the UK, the PS5 Pro only dipped down to £649 back in August 2025, and hasn’t seen anywhere near the discounts where seeing for Black Friday in the months since. In the US, these Black Friday deals are particularly welcome, as the console’s price was increased by $50 on August 21, 2025. Now, the recommended retail price is $749.99, making the highlighted Walmart deal a huge saving.

Third-party support

Of course, even at the discounted prices, PS5 Pro is still an expensive purchase. What’s surprised me, however, is just how quickly I’ve seen a gap starting to emerge between the Pro and the base PS5, especially for third-party games. This started to become clear when Monster Hunter Wilds launched in February. On the base PS5, where I played the game initially, the game was blurry, inconsistent, and kind of ugly in places. The PS5 Pro mode, by comparison, offered a noticeable bump in resolution while unlocking certain ray tracing features for Balanced Mode. While these are no doubt premium features, the difference is very striking to behold.

Similarly, Assassin’s Creed Shadows is significantly better on PS5 Pro. Ubisoft evidently spent a lot of time building dedicated PS5 Pro support, and the Pro version of the game is definitely the way I’d recommend playing. For my money, AC Shadows has the best-looking open world ever created, in terms of pure graphical prowess. It’s genuinely jaw-dropping on the PS5 Pro at times, blending raytracing with a steady 60 frames per second (FPS), and offering PSSR (PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution as an additional option for players.

In-house specialists

Moving forward, I expect the PS5 Pro to become even more vital, as third-party games get more and more ambitious, and Sony releases a heavy-hitting lineup of exclusives. Saros, the spiritual successor to Returnal, has already confirmed PS5 Pro support.

Anyone who’s played Returnal on PS5 Pro knows just how good Housemarque’s games can look on upgraded hardware. Saros already looks incredibly detailed and action-packed, and I’d bet the PS5 Pro version will offer a larger jump than we saw with Returnal, which was developed before the Pro came out.

Then there’s Marvel’s Wolverine, from Insomniac, a studio that still holds the crown in terms of best PS5 Pro game implementation. Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 remains the ‘killer app’ for PS5 Pro, as the ray tracing is perhaps the best showcase for the Pro’s particular set of extra specs.

Marvel’s Wolverine is expected to come out in 2026, adding to an already stacked lineup of PS5 exclusives. If Insomniac puts the same level of care into Logan’s first PS5 Pro outing as it did with Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, we could be in for a real treat.

The ultimate GTA 6 experience?

Finally, the neon-colored elephant in the room: Grand Theft Auto 6. Rockstar is adamant that the highly anticipated title will hit the new date of November 19, 2026, and if it lands, the PS5 Pro will surely be the best place to play. GTA 6 is only planned for consoles currently, so that means Xbox Series X|S and PS5. With the deals currently bringing PS5 Pro down to a lower price than the Xbox Series X, I’d highly recommend now as the right time to invest, especially if you want to play the best version of GTA 6 at launch.

If you’re not in the UK or US, keep an eye out for the best PS5 Pro Black Friday deals via the widget below.