PlayStation doubles down on slow, "thoughtful" PC porting strategy

[Cal Jeffrey]

In a nutshell: Sony's PC porting strategy has been clear from the start. It is in no rush to follow Xbox's multiplatform strategy. It wants to preserve the value of the PlayStation 5 by making sure high-end exclusives like Spider-Man and God of War remain showcases for the console first – and only reach PC when the timing feels right.

Sony Interactive Entertainment's Studio Business Group CEO Hermen Hulst says the company is continuing to take a "measured" approach to porting major first-party games to PC. Although Sony has expanded into the PC market in recent years, it has done so far more slowly than competitors like Microsoft, which now releases most of its games simultaneously on Xbox and PC.

"We're really thoughtful about bringing our franchises off console to reach new audiences," Hulst said during a business segment presentation on Friday. "We're taking a very measured, very deliberate approach in doing that."

Single-player games such as Spider-Man 2 and God of War Ragnarok have launched on PC well after their PlayStation 5 debut. Sony designs first-party releases to showcase its hardware and drive console sales. Maintaining an exclusivity window protects the PlayStation brand's value while allowing the company to grow its audience on PC.

Stellar Blade and TLoU Part II Remastered are the most recent PC ports from PlayStation Studios.

Video Games Chronicle says Hulst explained to investors that PlayStation exclusives serve as a key point of differentiation for the brand, designed to highlight performance and quality that only the console can deliver. He emphasized that Sony is deliberate in deciding if and when to bring these titles to other platforms, ensuring players receive the best possible experience on each.

While PlayStation began porting very old exclusives to PC a few years ago, more recent adaptations have been newer. Stellar Blade, which landed on PS5 in April 2024, has seen tremendous success on PC since its port launched less than a week ago. Former PlayStation executive Shuhei Yoshida said that despite not offering day-one releases like Xbox, Sony is "printing money" with PC ports. Indeed, in 2023, Sony projected an increase in revenue from PC sales of nearly half a billion dollars.

Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Hideaki Nishino said the company is closely monitoring player behavior to inform its strategy. Responding to Microsoft's move toward simultaneous multiplatform releases, Nishino expressed confidence in Sony's current approach, noting that healthy competition drives innovation across the gaming industry. While new engagement models are emerging, he emphasized that Sony sees no urgent need to change course.

"We think that competition in the business … pushes us to innovate," Nishino-san said. "We are confident and committed to our current strategy, and there isn't an urgent need for us to pivot."

Sony has said it plans to increase its efforts in live service and PC gaming. However, for now, its biggest games will remain exclusive to PlayStation consoles for a period, reinforcing the platform's role as the premier place to experience these flagship titles before they arrive elsewhere.

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PlayStation doubles down on slow, "thoughtful" PC porting strategy

 

[m4a4]

And I will personally double down on not rewarding it. The best I'll do is a deep discount for being treated as an afterthought.

No need for walled gardens in this digital age...

 

[Theinsanegamer]

And I will personally double down on not rewarding it. The best I'll do is a deep discount for being treated as an afterthought.

No need for walled gardens in this digital age...

Well, there is for Sony, since if they did day 1 release.....why would you buy a playstation?

look how well the day 1 strategy is working for the xbone series suck.

 

[The Talking Tech]

Sony will eventually cave in as more gamers would rather wait for the PC version.

Money is king and that money comes by the tons mostly by PC gamers.... Microsoft knows that very well.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

Sony will eventually cave in as more gamers would rather wait for the PC version.

Money is king and that money comes by the tons mostly by PC gamers.... Microsoft knows that very well.

Money is king, and at 78 million consoles sold Sony is doing pretty well compared to MicroSoft.

 

[Cal Jeffrey]

Money is king, and at 78 million consoles sold Sony is doing pretty well compared to MicroSoft.

Also, half a billion in PC sales despite the exclusivity delay is nothing to shrug off. It is nice, though, to see that the delay has shrunk. One year is really not a bad wait.

 

[Jarenien]

It is a great strategy by them. While it sucks for those with limited funds, I love playing it first on Playstation and then later on buying the 'definitive' version on PC and play it again.

 

[bviktor]

And I will personally double down on not rewarding it. The best I'll do is a deep discount for being treated as an afterthought.

No need for walled gardens in this digital age...

Them making PC ports of their former exclusives is the exact opposite of a "walled garden".

 

[bviktor]

Cool, so now how about properly supporting your own platform, too? The fact that 2.5 years after release we still don't have an Astro Bot VR2 game is a friggin' joke.

Anyhow, now that we have Forza and even Gears on the PS5, I wonder, will we also get the Halo MCC eventually? It'd be a dream come true. Split screen co-op is where it's at, something you don't get on the PC, sadly.

Edit: apparently there's some mod for that:

https://www.reddit.com/r/halo/comments/1fysyhz/splitscreen_now_available_and_easy_for_halomcc_on

... with some DLLs you gotta get from random Discord channels, and it kinda works, until MS breaks it again with a new patch, soooo yeah, it'd be great to get a proper PS5 release.

 

[scavengerspc]

Well, there is for Sony, since if they did day 1 release.....why would you buy a playstation?

Microsoft's cash cow is quickly becoming Game pass, which is understandable, but they have still sold 32 million boxes. Not bad for what seems to have become an afterthought.

 

[m4a4]

Well, there is for Sony, since if they did day 1 release.....why would you buy a playstation?

look how well the day 1 strategy is working for the xbone series suck.

Only if you're ignorant of how much MS's gaming division is raking in

Nearly 5x less consoles (from what I've seen) and they're pretty close to Sony's revenue.
Tell me, why is that? Is it because of hardware?

 

[m4a4]

Them making PC ports of their former exclusives is the exact opposite of a "walled garden".

No, it's still a walled garden. Timed exclusives are still exclusive in their walled garden.. for a time......

 

[dangh]

What I want is the great games to play. I remember on ps3 I had a feast. Uncharted, tlou, Killzone, Infamous, Resistance, lots of jrpg, rpg, valkyria chronicles, demon souls, and many more.

Now? There are just sequels and remasters. Sony do not care anymore, because the PC releases makes up financially for their laziness. There is nearly no new games! And I rather buy a separate platform to play something great, than to get a sea of mediocre titles on a single PC.

What I want to see from Sony is 2-3 new, solid IP every year and some sequels or follow ups on other great projects. And for last few years I had astro bot, and remakes, remakes, remakes, made because it was easy to make them together with a PC version and pretend they release something.

And I'm fine with pc releases of titles 3-5years after ps5, if they ramp up their lineup. If this continue like that they will actually do better to stop their console business and become another shitty pc publisher, creating some pop culture crap for braindead tik tok kids, pushing in game transactions wherever they can. As we can see with EA, Acti, ms, ubi and them all.

There is no point to request pc version day one only for short goals, forgetting that approach in time will take away games made with creativity and curiosity.

Nintendo have a crappy console, awfull ui, non existing services (netflix/spotify/ youtube? ), but t okeep the money and customers they are crazy creative. They have to, and that's why games there are genuine and very good. They could make a lot ofmonies in shourt run if they went to pc, but thatt would kill their outdated console and they would have t omake that up by addressing a wider audience, so makes games simpler, cheaper, and full of mt.

Sony should focus on their console and ecosystem first. They need to be strong to deliver strong games. If hose games will be coming to PC after few years it is a nice added bonus, but I want good games, not a good availability. I have games to play on my pc and hhpc. And I'm fine with having different devices do different stuff. I wish old management back, even, if they were sometimes *****s they were delivering games.

 

[adisoftcafe]

Yap, all single player titles. I can wait to play them after 2-3 years on pc at a discount. I'm not buying a console for these.

 

[Watzupken]

Sony will eventually cave in as more gamers would rather wait for the PC version.

Money is king and that money comes by the tons mostly by PC gamers.... Microsoft knows that very well.

If it is about making more money, then Sony’s strategy is likely more profitable. By launching a new title exclusive on PS first, and on PCs couple of years down the road, they are able to maintain the selling price of these games higher for a longer duration. The game may be out on PS5 for 2 years, but people still pay full price when launching on PCs. In comparison, Microsoft games are mostly selling for half the price after 2 years. If it is not beneficial, they won’t double down on this. In my opinion, Microsoft could not do the same because (1) their console sales is not doing well, and (2) if console sales is weak, the titles exclusive to Xbox is going to suffer. Hence, I feel this is the reason why Microsoft decided against creating Xbox exclusives because they will just limit sales.