PS4 Pro Running Some Games Worse than Original PS4

Now that the PS4 Pro is out, it is demonstrably effective at making original PS4 games look great with its 4K upscaling and HDR processing. However, while its image output is impressive, it seems that Sony’s new console is suffering when it comes to actual performance. Recent tests by Eurogamer’s Digital Foundry has found that a number of PS4 titles suffer from screen tearing and dropped frames when played on a PS4 Pro, issues that the games in question do not have when played on the original PS4 console.

“PlayStation 4 Pro testing continues at Digital Foundry and while impressions remain positive for what this system is capable of – especially when paired with a 4K display – there’s an aspect of platform performance affecting some games that we find concerning,” Digital Foundry’s Richard Leadbetter writes. “Several titles are running at lower performance levels than the base PlayStation 4 versions, presumably owing to higher resolution support. As we understand it, this constitutes a fail according to Sony’s technical requirements for developers, so it’s fair to say that we were not expecting to see this issue manifest in completed launch software.”

The high profile of some of the affected games – Watch Dogs 2, Skyrim, and The Last of Us: Remastered – is egregious, to say the least. It’s especially surprising to find a Naughty Dog title in the mix, considering its strong track record for visual fidelity.

“It’s certainly not a universal issue that applies to all software (many of the upgrades we’ve seen so far have been tremendous) and the extent of the issue varies not just from title to title but also from scene to scene in affected releases,” Leadbetter explains. “However, the bottom line is this: for games like Skyrim, The Last of Us and Mantis Burn Racing, gameplay will actually be smoother overall on base PlayStation 4 hardware. Deus Ex: Mankind Divided is a little more complicated: we find that some scenes play at a noticeably lower frame-rate, while others hand in more consistent performance overall.”

“For 1080p support, the Pro down-samples the 4K mode for all of these titles, offering enhanced image quality via super-sampling,” he adds. “However, the areas where performance is degraded remain impacted when running on a full HD display – meaning that there’s nothing that Pro owners can do to get a smoother experience overall on these titles. In fact, the base PlayStation 4 will run these releases at a higher performance level overall at the expense of some image quality.”

Digital Foundry is still trying to get to the bottom of why this issue is occurring and is continuing to test the hardware. After presenting its findings, a Sony spokesperson responded, “We are aware of the issue and currently investigating.”