Fake PS5 Pro screenshots are fooling everyone

I don’t know if it’s the price, the lack of PS5 exclusives, or the vertical stand you have to pay extra for, but the marketing for the PS5 Pro really hasn’t been what fans needed to be convinced they should drop $700 on a new console.

Nevertheless, some trolls are releasing fake images of either invisible or straight-up worse PS5 Pro improvements, and some of our best have already fallen for them.

Even those like Youtuber Hbomberguy, known for his extensively researched and gloriously long videos, seem to have fallen prey to trolls posting fake PS5 Pro Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth screenshots in a now-deleted repost. The original post, which has now been community-noted as fake, makes use of a 2023 trailer to pass off a fake “PS5 Pro” comparison.

And again, it’s fine. So many people are so unimpressed by the prospect of the PS5 Pro that they look at the comparisons and immediately assume the worst. That all-important second thought only comes a few minutes after you’ve already hit retweet.

Naturally, some are already having a laugh at the whole thing, showing comparisons hopefully too ridiculous to even fool anyone:

While some others are using this moment to hurl some poignant critique at Sony.

Right now, I think the only comparisons between games on the current PS5 and the PS5 Pro you should care about are the ones shown on Sony’s official reveal video. That’s because motion is important — something you don’t get from screenshots — as the increase in fluidity is a very important draw here.

While I don’t agree with the console’s absurd pricing, I do agree with the focus on making things run at a higher framerate. This might be a hot take, but I think the games look — and have already looked for over a decade — good enough. If the PS5 Pro manages to do away with most of the choppiness that has no reason to exist in modern AAA games, then that’s one thing it has done very right.