In brief: Porting first-party PlayStation games to PC was once unthinkable, but Sony has highlighted the policy's growing importance over the past few years. Although calculating the exact percentage of first-party revenue originating from PC is difficult, even rough estimates indicate that the share is growing.
An analysis of Sony's financials from the last few years indicates that selling in-house games on Steam, GOG, and the Epic Games Store is becoming increasingly beneficial. Between fiscal years 2022 and 2024, sales of PC titles might have grown from less than a fifth to almost a third of total first-party PlayStation game revenue.
Although Sony provides detailed revenue estimates for non-PlayStation games, determining the company's income from first-party console games alone is difficult, so any calculations will rely on back-of-the-napkin math. However, the PC's significant rise in revenue share over the past three years is undeniable.
Sony's fiscal reports list revenue from platforms other than PlayStation consoles under "Other Software." PC games likely account for most of this income, but it could also include Destiny's mobile spin-off, Destiny Rising. The Nintendo Switch and Xbox versions of titles such as MLB The Show, Everybody's Golf, Patapon, and Freedom Wars might also add to the figure.
With this in mind, Sony revealed that sales of non-PlayStation software exceeded 96 billion yen, or approximately $656 million, for the fiscal year ending March 2025. Meanwhile, sales of PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 first-party titles reached 28.9 million units.
From here, calculations depend on the revenue Sony received from each game sold. Digital distribution, which gives Sony a full revenue share for first-party games, accounted for 76 percent of sales. Most of Sony's flagship titles, such as Spider-Man, God of War, and Horizon Zero Dawn, cost $70, while Helldivers 2, one of the company's biggest hits, costs only $40.
Accounting for retailers' share of physical game sales and possible discounts, then combining PlayStation and non-PlayStation first-party revenue, suggests that the former category could account for 30 percent of total first-party income. Applying this estimate to the previous two fiscal years indicates that the proportion could have grown from less than a fifth in 2022 and roughly a quarter in 2023.
Sony can probably thank Helldivers 2 for most of the previous year's increase. Released near the end of the 2023 fiscal year, it is easily the company's most successful PC game. Although this is likely because it launched simultaneously on PC and PlayStation, Sony plans to continue delaying PC ports of most in-house titles.
The company previously confirmed that its PC game sales rose from $35 million in 2020 to $80 million the following year. Sony predicted $300 million for FY 2022, and the company might have exceeded that number. Former executive Shuhei Yoshida later compared releasing PC ports to "printing money," because they introduce the games to new audiences at relatively little additional production cost compared to developing new titles.
PC sales now account for nearly a third of Sony's first-party game revenue
