PS5 Pro is expected late 2024, with the PS6 expected 2028. If Microsoft is to try to keep pace, as someone who doesn’t have either console, it will be interesting to see if they also brand this as a mid-generation refresh or if they stick to their guns they’ve been touting for a while of being “beyond generations”.
Yeah, I don’t think it’s so much that Sony doesn’t see PC as a direct competitor, but that Microsoft is pushing them in a direction where now they feel they can’t afford to cut themselves off from future markets that might be much more relevant and less niche in the future. If Microsoft didn’t switch releasing Xbox exclusives when it came to PC I don’t see Sony bothering with the PC market. Feels like something they were more reluctantly dragged into as the market of gamers started changing.
Also, even with the rise in PC parts due to stuff like mining the demographic had changed too where kids are growing up watching streamers, wanting to stream, so lot of people they follow using PCs. Guys like Linus are pretty big youtubers too changing the accessibility of PCs from this obscure nerdy and complicated out of reach thing into something more people are wanting to try if their interest is piqued.
Even if Microsoft wasn’t bringing their games to PC for the longest time, there are other factors that would have pushed Sony in that direction. The games that they’re making are immensely expensive to make, and they can’t necessarily bank on console sales recouping that cost as guaranteed as they used to. And then there was also the supply shortages caused by the pandemic that prevented PS5s from being picked up by ready and willing customers.