It was rumored, back when we still knew the PS4 Pro as the PS4 NEO, that Sony would mandate that all developers support the new, more powerful console in some form or the other. However, now we’re not sure, since nothing at the reveal conference indicated that there was any such diktat for developers and publisjers- and now, statements made by Sony Interactive Entertainment exec Masayasu Ito in an interview with Japanese website Game Impress Watch (via Kotaku) seem to be further reinforcing that PS4 Pro support may in fact be optional.
For instance, it sounds like Sony may even charge developers for some of the 4K and UDH patches for PS4 Pro support- that definitely seems to indicate it’s not mandatory. “It will be different for each title. I believe it will depend on the thinking of each licensee,” Ito said, adding that the fee may apply to first party games too, and that there might be games that had free patches, while others that Sony charged developers for.
He also confirmed that all Sony first party games going forward would support 4K and UHD- “Right. The first party titles we put out are going to certainly support both [4K and HDR].” Which means that there should be a healthy library of games that justifies the expense of a Pro to a lot of people, given the general strength of Sony’s exclusive portfolio.
The PlayStation 4 Pro will launch worldwide on November 10.