If you're also a PlayStation fan, you might have seen the news yesterday that Sony is planning to release many more of its first-party games on PC, following a great year for Xbox on the platform last year.
Jim Ryan, president and chief executive officer of Sony Interactive Entertainment, told GQ Magazine that it was a "fairly straightforward decision to make", and the PlayStation community appeared to have "no massive adverse reaction" to the arrival of PlayStation exclusive Horizon Zero Dawn on PC in August of 2020.
"There’s an opportunity to expose those great games to a wider audience and recognise the economics of game development, which are not always straightforward. The cost of making games goes up with each cycle, as the calibre of the IP has improved. Also, our ease of making it available to non-console owners has grown.
In terms of the straightforward success of the activity of publishing [Horizon Zero Dawn] on PC, people liked it and they bought it. We also looked at it through the lens of what the PlayStation community thought about it. There was no massive adverse reaction to it. So we will continue to take mission steps in this direction."
It's definitely interesting to see PlayStation taking these "mission steps", as Microsoft very clearly enjoyed a lot of success on PC in 2020. In fact, six Xbox published games were top sellers on Steam throughout the year (as measured by gross revenue), including Halo: The Master Chief Collection and Ori and the Will of the Wisps.
What do you make of this new strategy from PlayStation? Give us your thoughts below.
[source gq-magazine.co.uk]
Comments 32
PC and console have always been largely separate markets, even if Sony games launched day one on PC I doubt it'd eat into their console sales. This year after being a console gamer for 30 years I've moved over to PC and apart from Nintendo probably won't return. All of Xbox's games are here and my favourite PS4 exclusive already is and I don't think it'll be long before most of the others are too. Plus the games I'm most looking forward to such as Resident Evil will be on there anyway. My PC simply gives me far more options for gaming then any console ever has and let's be honest most of the games many of us play aren't exclusive
I don't think this strategy will work out as well as with Xbox, at least when it comes to Sony maintaining good customer relations with their fan base. By now people have already normalised first-party Xbox games coming to PC at the same time. Not to mention that Microsoft is already associated with PC in terms of Windows, so it makes sense for them to release their games on there as well. However, Sony (just like with Nintendo) has little presence on PC and that's why there have been a lot of PlayStation fans being against this strategy (read the comment section in the above PushSquare article) because they feel like the whole reason you buy a PlayStation is for the exclusives. If I may generalise a bit, the way I see it, people buy Xbox consoles for the convenience even if the games are on PC, while people buy PlayStation consoles mostly for the exclusives. Take away the exclusives and PlayStation users will become displeased.
In the grand scheme of things, PlayStation exclusives coming to PC is a good thing, for sure. But how this will affect the PlayStation fan base is yet to be determined. Maybe this will only last short-term and people will get over it once more PS exclusives start releasing on PC. Or they will take action and stop buying PS systems in the future altogether. Either way, this is definitely going to divide the fan base for the foreseeable future, at least that's how I see it.
As a gamer on all platforms, this is good news in my eyes.
Opens these games up for a far wider audience and potentially greater performance than on console if you have top end PC tech.
They have probably seen the success MS have had, and realized that to justify the high production costs of their games, they need to reach a wider audience than they can being just limited to console.
I'm highly expecting a Game Pass equivalent to follow next from Sony.
PS Now is being wasted. 2.2m subs last time I heard, compared to 18m on Game Pass.
@LtSarge I think another point is the state of the brands when the PC releases started. Xbox exclusives started coming to PC when the Xbox brand was in a state where there was really nothing left to lose. Don Mattrick had already crippled the Xbox brand in 2013 with his vision of the XB1 but even after he was fired there was the situation of early XB1 era exclusives being very broken like MCC and Halo 5 which did even more damage.
Meanwhile when Sony started putting Playstation exclusives on PC, the Playstation brand was already at an all time high because of Microsoft's errors and delivering an extremely high quality 1st party lineup.
@Grumblevolcano That's an excellent point, I didn't really think of that. I can definitely see Xbox users getting angry at Microsoft if the company announced for the first time now that titles such as Halo Infinite would be coming to PC, now that Xbox is gaining momentum once again. I mean, just look at how many people here want the Bethesda games to be exclusive to Xbox/PC and not release on PlayStation. The topic of exclusivity is a sensitive one no matter which platform you're discussing.
The only reason the sony ponies are mad is they now cant use the argument that Xbox has no exclusives because they release also on when now their exclusive are also on PC.
Rest in peace to all the toxic fanbase and their "BuT Xbox HaS No eXclusiVes bEcauSe tHey aRe aLsO oN pC" arguments.
I have always said that not everyone can invest 1600-2K money on a gaming PC so there is little overlap between console and PC market and Xbox/PS5 market anyway. Honestly it is cool to see these titles on PC. But it is just how this would be received by the more extreme/toxic/tribal PS fans that really interests me.
@LtSarge I don't think there is a way to really quantify how big a difference this makes to PS5 sales. At this point the lines are getting super blurry because technically there is less profit in selling hardware and more in selling software so they recoup what they lose in hardware sales by software sales on PC. As Long as the excel files look good it's ok I guess😂
@TrueAssassin86x The truth has been spoken
@BrilliantBill Yeah I guess that's true. But at the same time, I do think console sales matter more to Sony than it does to Microsoft. After all, it's clear that Microsoft wants people to play their games regardless of platform due to Game Pass. But Sony hasn't openly stated something along those lines at all. Not to mention that PS4 sold extremely well, you would think that they'd want to replicate that success again with PS5.
I guess their position in the gaming market right now is just a bit unclear, at least to me.
I do wish they would come to the windows store. Had a bad experience with steam and have no desire to download Epic or Activision's game app. It's not like they have to be tied to the xbox services either.
I find it hilarious that PCMR is acting so triumphant about all these console ex-exclusives coming to the PC. Now, if Uncharted, TLoU or God of War were to come to the PC that would be something. No, I don't mean via streaming (PS Now sucks in my experience). Actually, I'd consider switching to the PC if that happened. Guess I'll wait a bit longer before I buy a PS5 because it makes less sense with Xbox and most Sony exclusives on the PC.
@LtSarge This is an interesting argument. I agree that Sony, like Nintendo, is focussed for exclusives however I'm not sure if it would affect Sony so much as MS which is opposite to what you are saying. In reality at the moment only a handful of exclusives have moved over and the majority are still only on Sony platform and the games are several years old. I'm not building a PC at twice the price of a PS5 to potentially get their games several years down the line.
I've bought both the PS5 and Series X as that covers me for everything I want to play between the two as its cheaper to get a Series X than it is a PC and the PS will have loads of exclusives I can't do without. If Sony follow MS and release all exclusives day 1 then I don't see the point in buying either a Series X or a PS5 (or future gen consoles) - may as well put all that money into a PC, select your favourite controller between the two companies and you're covered for everything.
Oddly in my scenario, the PS exclusives is what has kept me with consoles and buying the Series X. Is it possible Sony going to PC would negatively affect MS sales in the process?
@LtSarge I think their entire marketing motto was a case of "just say opposite of what Phil Spencer says". When Phil was preaching about Halo Infinite releasing on last gen, they were marketing how they believe in generations and new generations=new games and so on. Then turned out many of their games are actually cross-gen.
Next they went hard for the "Only on PS" and now turns out their exclusives will release on PC as well (maybe not same day like Xbox but eventually). Now they are preaching against Subscription based services because "games cost money to make" as if EA, Micorosoft, Ubisoft ,Apple Arcade and so on don't spend money on making their games. Eventually they will also have their subscription service too. It is just that they need to figure out how to go about it.
I must admit I have enjoyed reading some of the comments sections on PlayStation websites about this, been good fun. Their whole argument that Xbox has no exclusives is funny when Sony are starting to do the same thing.
I still think Sony’s approach is smarter, releasing on PC but 6-12 months after the console release, it makes more sense I think and does help preserve the need for the console somewhat. I cannot fault MS approach either though of their games being day 1 on gamepass console and PC, it’s a different strategy and it’s working so far.
@StonyKL You bring up an interesting point as well. If both Xbox and PS games come to PC, then it would just be better to get a PC instead of both an Xbox and a PlayStation. Although I don't know how many people would do this this because the convenience of consoles will still be there. Maybe it will push some people over the edge, while others would still find some joy in owning consoles.
Perhaps the people who this will affect the most aren't existing PlayStation or Xbox users but instead those who have a PC and are considering getting a PS5 for the exclusives. At that point they would only need to get a Switch as a complementary system and ultimately have access to all games. But yeah, console gaming is definitely going to take a hit regardless.
Haha you could see this a mile off.. Sony said a while ago they would look more and more and more into PC releases, because they need the money and we’re frankly jealous of how much Microsoft was making from the PC games market. I just laugh at the endless Sony fans who are upset about this. Because the only reason they had a PlayStation was because of the games you only play on it...??
@BrilliantBill Yeah, Sony has always been an "observe first, act later" company. Their messaging is usually unimportant since they always do what the competitors do as long as it's proven to be successful. It just feels like they are all over the place with what they want to do. They announced next-gen PS VR yesterday and all I can think is why would I buy a console for a VR headset and play a handful of exclusive titles. That's just going to cost me so much money and at the same time, they're giving me less of a reason to buy a PS5 when they announce that more PS exclusives will be coming to PC.
@BrilliantBill Very true, Jim Ryan has already stated they will have a ‘response to game pass’. Make if that what you will..
This has been coming for a while now and it's not a shock at all. They will start with a few games, then they will release new titles 6 months to a year after launch on the PS5 before finally going day n date. A bunch of the toxic fanbase will be very vocal about it but the bottom line with show that they are making more money and they will never go back. It's all about the $$ for every company. It will be a hard pill to swallow for those that are "loyal" to their corporation looking to take their money after this "betrayal".
@LtSarge i think their position is to make as much cash as possible and they know they need PC to do that. They have 5M PS5's in the wild, let's say 4.5M in the hands of actual customers....how many will be buy Ratchet and Clank? It's only on one platform with a small install base, not going to recoup their costs fir a long time. It if was on PC and PS5 they would make a lot more. Sony needs to grow or risk becoming only a publisher in the future, and they need cash to grow.
@Krzzystuff but but how can PC run something like Rachet and Clank without the PS5’s magical SSD!?
@Fenbops this gen of consoles will b pushing the min specs for games and i wouldn't be surprised is SSD becomes min spec in a few years. Didn't the latest WoW expension require an SSD?
@carlos82 i went the other way i was a pc gamer for decades but the constant cheating in games like apex(which is why cross play on consoles doesn’t include pc) and CoD and Counter Strike(my fav pc game) chased me off its just rampant on pc, yes it is on consoles but to a much lesser extent…it got to a point in CS:Go that I couldn’t get into a game without a wall hack or aim bot player active in the game….that’s what chased me back to console after nearly 3 decades.
@Krzzystuff I know I’m just teasing. SSD needs to become the standard with PC gamers for once they’re lagging behind consoles in that respect.
@Krzzystuff very doubtful imo that Sony are planning to release PS5 games at all on PC in this 9th-gen lifetime. We'll probably get no more than 3 old PS4 exclusive games per year. The demands for these games on PC are arguably still high enough and this will be Sony way of squeezing out more cash from these old games. Remember that this isn't like "almost crumbling" XB1 situation and PS still leading the competition between the big duo to this very day.
@endlessleep to each their own...buuuuuttttt.....how long does it take Sony to get 7.5B in the bank? A full year or more? Thats all of Sony not just PlayStation. MS is like 1.5 months? I think Sony is chasing cash so they can get some more acquisitions and they can't with their current cashflow. I say we see day n date before the gen is over. Any releases in 2021/22 will be on PC in 6-12 months post launch in my opinion...I'm not an expert or insider but it just makes sense to me.
@Fenbops lol I know but it was also a valid statement.
Should be fun with Playstation activists that always went after the "It's on PC and Xbox so it isn't EXCLUUUUSIVE!!!" nonsense.
@Trmn8r they just might be quiet... although it's all about it's not day n date at the moment. Toxic fans of any platform really just need to play games and have fun or get a new hobby. Fun is supposed to be, by it's very definition....fun.
God Of War, Uncharted, Spiderman, All coming to PC It's only a matter of time..
@Grumblevolcano @LtSarge The big difference in mindset comes long before Matrick. Remember, Windows was the original exclusive platform of Microsoft Game Studios. Flight Sim, Mech Warrior, AoE. Hover!. . Xbox was actually the intruder into their existing ecosystem that rubbed a lot of Microsft/PC gamers the wrong way when it launched. We'd played MS games, but here comes Mass Effect, Jade Empire, Halo, Crimson Skies, and they're NOT coming to our PCs?! From Microsoft?! How DARE they! It soured MS as a publisher to existing MS/Windows gamers. We didn't feel like Xb should be getting "exclusives" that Windows didn't get. So there was outrage because of xbox exclusives, and the reversal to MS games going to Windows and Xb together is how most of us thought it should have been from the start. That was the original platform.
I actually jumped from PC to Playstation at that point because it was irritating enough.
PS is the reverse. PS means console, and adding another platform (let alone that other platform being....Microsoft...) is going to more easily rub people the wrong way.
I don’t care the MS does it with Xbox games, why on earth would I care about Sony doing it with PS games? :/
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