According to GameWatch, Sony has discontinued all models of PS4 except for one in Japan.
The 500GB PS4 Slim in ‘Jet Black’ will remain in production for now, while all other Slim models and all PS4 Pro models will be discontinued. It’s unclear whether this applies to just Japan or to Western markets as well.
The PS4 generation was the one that introduced the PlayStationVR headset, which released in 2016 and brought VR games and optional VR support to the PlayStation ecosystem. With the introduction of the PlayStation 5, the previous generation is now being slowly phased out by Sony. The original PS4 launch design from 2013 was already discontinued and superseded by the PS4 Slim, which became the new standard model.
The PS4 Pro was introduced in 2016 and was sold alongside the PS4 Slim, offering a specification and performance bump over the existing models at a higher price point of $399. The PS5 launched in November last year with a $499 physical edition and a $399 digital edition. Given that the PS4 Pro and the PS5 digital edition currently exist at the same price, it makes sense for Sony to kill off the PS4 Pro while keeping the cheaper slim model around for a while longer.
According to GameWatch, Sony plans to use the now-vacant production lines to increase PS5 production.
Not only does the PS5 offer huge hardware and performance increases over the previous generation, it also maintains compatibility with the vast majority of the PS4 library through backwards compatibility. Users can even use their PSVR headset with the PS5 to play PS4-era PSVR games, except for 10 specific games that are incompatible with the next gen console.
