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Ex-PlayStation boss doesn’t think Sony will ever do day one PC releases

Topher

Gold Member
Former PlayStation executive Shawn Layden doesn’t think Sony Interactive Entertainment will ever choose to launch its games for console and PC simultaneously.

While Microsoft has opted to bring Xbox Game Studios titles to console and PC at launch, Sony has taken a more cautious approach to releasing its games off console.

It tested the water with Horizon Zero Dawn, which released for PC in August 2020, over three years after its PS4 debut.

Days Gone then hit PC this May, over two years after its PS4 release, while 2016’s Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End and 2017’s Uncharted: The Lost Legacy will make the jump to PC in 2022 – “shortly after” they arrive for PS5.

Former PlayStation US boss Layden, who was chairman of the company’s worldwide studios group when he left Sony in 2019, discussed the origins of the company’s PC game strategy in a recent video interview with What’s Up PlayStation.

“The idea of going to PC—and I don’t think you’ll ever see PlayStation do a day and date with PC, but you know, never say never—but the strategy as we were developing it when I was there was that we need to go out to where these new customers are, these new fans could be,” he said.

“We need to go to where they are because they’ve decided not to go to come to my house so I’ve got to go to their house now.

“And what’s the best way to go to their house? Why don’t I take one of our top selling games, which has already blown up the marketplace, it’s already been out there for 18 months or 24 months, there’s no real retail activity against that title, I’m not trading off one sale for another, and bring that to the personal computer platform and let them have an idea – you guys choose not to come to PlayStation but let me show you what you’re missing.”

For Layden, “there’s no losing in this transaction” as PC game sales aren’t coming at the expense of console software purchases, and ideally they might encourage PC players to buy a console down the line.

“It’s a way of outreach, that’s how I see it – trying to get to the people that the platform doesn’t currently speak to,” he said.

PlayStation Studios boss Hermen Hulst said in June that the platform holder was “still early on in our planning for PC” but that consoles would remain the priority for new releases.

“Horizon Zero Dawn has been very successful [on PC],” he said. “I think it shows there’s an appetite from gamers outside the PlayStation ecosystem to experience the amazing portfolio of games that PlayStation fans have enjoyed for years.

“But I want to emphasize that PlayStation will remain the best place to play our PlayStation Studios titles at launch. But we do value PC gamers, and we’ll continue to look at the right times to launch each game. Bend Studio just released the PC version of Days Gone on May 18. So that’s about two years after the PS4 release.

“And I hope that a new set of fans can and will enjoy that title. And that’s the goal — we want to reach new gamers who haven’t yet experienced the great stories, characters, and worlds that we’ve built. Releasing games on PC will not come ever at the expense of building an exciting lineup of great console games.”

PlayStation recently acquired Nixxes Software, which is best known for its work on the PC versions of Square Enix properties including Tomb Raider, Deus Ex, Hitman and Thief, to help it bring its games to the platform.




What is interesting to me about what Layden said is what I highlighted. So the plan to port games PC was going on when he was the boss. Was this ever said before? First I am hearing about it. Can't put all this on Hulst and Ryan then it seems. I too doubt PS games will ever be day one on PC, but would love to see it.
 
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StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
What he said is basically what most of us have said. The PC market is it's own thing and doesn't come at the expense of PS ecosystem.

Sony has already released two ports lately, and UC4/LL is next year too. That'll be 3 games in about 18 months. More will come after UC4.

Horizon ZD - Aug 2020
DG - May 2021
UC4/LL - "Early 2022"

Them buying Nixxes is their commitment to porting more games in quicker time. I don't think Nixxes was bought so they can port one old PS game every 5 years.
 

RoboFu

One of the green rats
I don't believe him. It's a slow, but gradual transition into happening
It’s either change or get left behind really. Not next year or even 10 years from now but they need to start building up their service now.
 

Holammer

Member
That's why the man is EX.
But seriously, I think he's mostly right for now. I suspect Sony will release upcoming GaaS multiplayer titles on PS4-5 & PC day one. They want get maximum market penetration and focused media hype for those. You still need to feed that positive feedback loop to get it going.

When Sony gets its first taste of a PUBG/New World level title on PC, all bets are off and they might commit more seriously to the platform.
 

yurinka

Member
I'm with Shawn in this one. I think it's a good strategy to port only some games to PC and to make it when they are several years old, when the game isn't selling anymore on PS after getting heavily discounted and even gave it away on PS Plus or PS Now.

Doing it in that way doesn't negatively affect sales on PS, but generates some extra revenue and new fans, some of which can buy a PS to play the other exclusives, specially the new ones. Some of these PC customers never would buy a console anyways, because they aren't available or are too expensive in their countries.

I'd only make an exception: a few F2P or PvP competitive GaaS games, I'd release them 6 months after the PS5 release or maybe even day one, because having a big userbase is key for these. I'd only have maybe a couple of these games, not more. I'd keep them as a tiny portion of the Sony catalog and would focus instead of the type of games that are very successful for Sony: single player narrative focused paid games.

To publish all their games on PC and to do it day one would kill the reasons for people to get a PS5, its hardware sales would decline so they'd lose their main revenue source: 3rd party sales for their console.

What is interesting to me about what Layden said is what I highlighted. So the plan to port games PC was going on when he was the boss. Was this ever said before? First I am hearing about it. Can't put all this on Hulst and Ryan then it seems. I too doubt PS games will ever be day one on PC, but would love to see it.
Horizon was released on PC mid 2020, Shawn stepped down September 30, 2019 when Guerrilla was very likely already working on the PC port. Specially considering the game engine pretty likely already supported PC versions of its games looking at Death Stranding.

Decisions this big aren't decided in a few months. Corporations make long term strategies and plan big changes in advance looking at the next 5, 10 years. As an example, pretty likely they already have the strategy for the PSVR2 release, PS Now next gen upgrade and the roadmap for most exclusives for the 2nd half of PS5 lifetime already signed. They may be starting to prepare PS6, working on a handful of acquisitions more and thinking about how are they going to adapt some of their IPs to mobile gaming and what new PS IPs will get movies and tv shows after Uncharted, TLOU, Twisted Metal and GoT.
 
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fermcr

Member
As a PC gamer I have to agree... Sony has a different strategy then Microsoft.
Release their games first on Playstation, then later on, after exhausting their sales on console, release them on PC.

I wouldn't mind having their games day 1 on PC, but doubt it will happen.
 
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D

Deleted member 471617

Unconfirmed Member
Day one on PC will happen before the current generation ends. Once they port the few more PS4 exclusives, they'll start porting PS5 exclusives and before the gen ends, they will be evened out.

Don't know why they wouldn't do day one on PC. It's a different market and having both Epic and Steam day one would be easy money and more money than waiting years to port them when most who would be interested on PC have already moved on.
 

Vaelka

Member
There's no reason why they would, a lot of people who buy the game on PS will just buy it on PC again later why would they not want to double-dip?
It doesn't make sense from their pov.

With Microsoft it's a bit different since uh, they're a PC-centric company they're already a part of the echo-system.
 

Men_in_Boxes

Snake Oil Salesman
"Naughty Dogs Factions II is going to be day and date on PC. It'll be cross gen too...because multiplayer."

Lul
 

STARSBarry

Gold Member
Honestly... especially for the PS5 exclusives I can see this being true for the next half decade at least. The problem is the SSD, not the BS "can only be done on PS5's time traveling quantum drive BS". But just the fact not all PC's have an SSD and potentially certain games on PS5 will need at least bog standard SSD speeds to stream textures etc for the game to function.

As for any game with a PS4 release I could see those potentially hitting closer to launch, unless Sony are purposefully manufacturing delays as if a game can work on 7+ year old hardware with limited RAM and laptop speed hard drives (lol 5400rpm) it can be done on a PC that's even older. For starters PS Now is not a bunch of playstations hooked up to the Internet, those will be server racks in a farm... so there running it already on PC, as long as its to a conformed spec for that service to operate.
 
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StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
Day one on PC will happen before the current generation ends. Once they port the few more PS4 exclusives, they'll start porting PS5 exclusives and before the gen ends, they will be evened out.

Don't know why they wouldn't do day one on PC. It's a different market and having both Epic and Steam day one would be easy money and more money than waiting years to port them when most who would be interested on PC have already moved on.
Well it comes down to that unknown for day one games.

One side thinks if you put day one games on PC, current PS gamers will shift to PC and future gamers will skip PS and go direct to PC. So long term, the Sony ecosystem drops like a rock.

The other side thinks the PC and PS crowds are more attune to sticking to their own ecosystems and there wont' be much wall hopping to the other side. So long term, Sony wins as they sell to both PS and PC crowds at the same time and anyone who changes ecosystems doesn't move the needle compared to the bigger gains from PC.
 

Zeroing

Banned
I think it makes sense. Or else why the need to go buy a console? I also assume they will space out the releases so that attracts people into buying a ps5
 

Haggard

Banned
Day one might happen for big GaaS releases, I doubt it will ever happen with trademark exclusives like a GoW for example. Gotta milk the FOMO crowd.
 
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Aenima

Member
Day one on PC will happen before the current generation ends. Once they port the few more PS4 exclusives, they'll start porting PS5 exclusives and before the gen ends, they will be evened out.

Don't know why they wouldn't do day one on PC. It's a different market and having both Epic and Steam day one would be easy money and more money than waiting years to port them when most who would be interested on PC have already moved on.
Releasing some years later might make some ppl double dip though. And keeping the games exclusive to the console for some years gives a reason for ppl to own the consoles. And Sony want ppl to own consoles because there they can sell subscriptions like PS+ that they cant sell on PC. And most of Playstation profits come from subscriptions money and DLC.
 
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If you start thinking of PS as a service rather than a device, Day 1 is entirely within reason.

Unfortunately they are still a long way from being ready for it.
 

StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
pc_uncharted_4-725x376-1.jpg
 

GHG

Gold Member
They need to embrace the day 1 play anywhere strategy.

No they don't. They have completely different goals to what Microsoft are doing and that's ok.

This is what they want from PC gaming as outlined in previous quarterly earnings calls:
  • To port over titles that have flatlined in sales on the PS platform, the port allows for increased revenue with very little additional outlay (this is why they acquired Nixxes).
  • To seek out and capture new potential playstation hardware and ecosystem customers - for example if they port across the first 2 spiderman games prior to the sequel releasing there is an increased chance someone who enjoyed the first 2 games on PC would potentially buy a PS5 to get day one access to the next game - this is why the quality of the ports are of paramount importance, they want new customers to have a good first impression. Its worth noting the expectations are not huge for this point, it's very much "bonus" territory.
They want people buying their hardware and they want people in their ecosystem, everything they are aiming to do on the PC complements that. It's a different strategy to what Xbox are doing in that they don't care so much about people buying hardware, they just want people to subscribe to their services.

There will be exceptions to the rule of "port later", primarily with any future multiplayer games (or multiplayer components of games) but the primary strategy feeds in to the more traditional console model that's served them so well. They were keen to reiterate the fact that they are not willing to compromise/dilute brand identity (which is centered around the console experience) while embarking on this initiative.
 
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AJUMP23

Member
Your ex never wants what is best for you. They want you to hurt like you hurt them.

Just look at Reggie over there playing Mother 3.
 

Kilau

Gold Member
No they don't. They have completely different goals to what Microsoft are doing and that's ok.

This is what they want from PC gaming as outlined in previous quarterly earnings calls:
  • To port over titles that have flatlined in sales on the PS platform, the port allows for increased revenue with very little additional outlay (this is why they acquired Nixxes).
  • To seek out and capture new potential playstation hardware and ecosystem customers - for example if they port across the first 2 spiderman games prior to the sequel releasing there is an increased chance someone who enjoyed the first 2 games on PC would potentially buy a PS5 to get day one access to the next game - this is why the quality of the ports are of paramount importance, they want new customers to have a good first impression. Its worth noting the expectations are not huge for this point, it's very much "bonus" territory.
They want people buying their hardware and they want people in their ecosystem, everything they are aiming to do on the PC complements that. It's a different strategy to what Xbox are doing in that they don't care so much about people buying hardware, they just want people to subscribe to their services.

There will be exceptions to the rule of "port later", primarily with any future multiplayer games (or multiplayer components of games) but the primary strategy feeds in to the more traditional console model that's served them so well. They were keen to reiterate the fact that they are not willing to compromise brand identity (which is centered around the console experience) while embarking on this initiative.
I think it's going to hurt them in the long run, fragmenting their customers instead of offering a unified service and platform. I have a PS5 but I would like to know my options. There is so much unnecessary obfuscation involved it's like Sony hates being upfront about anything and it's really souring me towards the whole company. Where is my TV firmware?! :messenger_pouting:
 

Dream-Knife

Banned
I think people here claimed that the move to PC was all Ryan and Hulst.

Layden's statements are also what they stated, but I don't know if that was ever layed out before.

I think this gen we will see day and date. If you're not buying a PS or PC already, I don't think the two platforms really compete with each other. But I guess we'll see.
Honestly... especially for the PS5 exclusives I can see this being true for the next half decade at least. The problem is the SSD, not the BS "can only be done on PS5's time traveling quantum drive BS". But just the fact not all PC's have an SSD and potentially certain games on PS5 will need at least bog standard SSD speeds to stream textures etc for the game to function.

As for any game with a PS4 release I could see those potentially hitting closer to launch, unless Sony are purposefully manufacturing delays as if a game can work on 7+ year old hardware with limited RAM and laptop speed hard drives (lol 5400rpm) it can be done on a PC that's even older. For starters PS Now is not a bunch of playstations hooked up to the Internet, those will be server racks in a farm... so there running it already on PC, as long as its to a conformed spec for that service to operate.
You can just have minimum requirements require an SSD. Anyone who's playing these type of games on PC has an ssd already. They've been in PCs for over 10 years.
Releasing some years later might make some ppl double dip though. And keeping the games exclusive to the console for some years gives a reason for ppl to own the consoles. And Sony want ppl to own consoles because there they can sell subscriptions like PS+ that they cant sell on PC. And most of Playstation profits come from subscriptions money and DLC.
If someone owns a gaming PC with a PS, do you think they're going to subscribe to plus and/or buy third party games on PS, or just get them off Steam?
 

kyliethicc

Member
Former PlayStation executive Shawn Layden doesn’t think Sony Interactive Entertainment will ever choose to launch its games for console and PC simultaneously.

While Microsoft has opted to bring Xbox Game Studios titles to console and PC at launch, Sony has taken a more cautious approach to releasing its games off console.

It tested the water with Horizon Zero Dawn, which released for PC in August 2020, over three years after its PS4 debut.

Days Gone then hit PC this May, over two years after its PS4 release, while 2016’s Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End and 2017’s Uncharted: The Lost Legacy will make the jump to PC in 2022 – “shortly after” they arrive for PS5.

Former PlayStation US boss Layden, who was chairman of the company’s worldwide studios group when he left Sony in 2019, discussed the origins of the company’s PC game strategy in a recent video interview with What’s Up PlayStation.

“The idea of going to PC—and I don’t think you’ll ever see PlayStation do a day and date with PC, but you know, never say never—but the strategy as we were developing it when I was there was that we need to go out to where these new customers are, these new fans could be,” he said.

“We need to go to where they are because they’ve decided not to go to come to my house so I’ve got to go to their house now.

“And what’s the best way to go to their house? Why don’t I take one of our top selling games, which has already blown up the marketplace, it’s already been out there for 18 months or 24 months, there’s no real retail activity against that title, I’m not trading off one sale for another, and bring that to the personal computer platform and let them have an idea – you guys choose not to come to PlayStation but let me show you what you’re missing.”

For Layden, “there’s no losing in this transaction” as PC game sales aren’t coming at the expense of console software purchases, and ideally they might encourage PC players to buy a console down the line.

“It’s a way of outreach, that’s how I see it – trying to get to the people that the platform doesn’t currently speak to,” he said.

PlayStation Studios boss Hermen Hulst said in June that the platform holder was “still early on in our planning for PC” but that consoles would remain the priority for new releases.

“Horizon Zero Dawn has been very successful [on PC],” he said. “I think it shows there’s an appetite from gamers outside the PlayStation ecosystem to experience the amazing portfolio of games that PlayStation fans have enjoyed for years.

“But I want to emphasize that PlayStation will remain the best place to play our PlayStation Studios titles at launch. But we do value PC gamers, and we’ll continue to look at the right times to launch each game. Bend Studio just released the PC version of Days Gone on May 18. So that’s about two years after the PS4 release.

“And I hope that a new set of fans can and will enjoy that title. And that’s the goal — we want to reach new gamers who haven’t yet experienced the great stories, characters, and worlds that we’ve built. Releasing games on PC will not come ever at the expense of building an exciting lineup of great console games.”

PlayStation recently acquired Nixxes Software, which is best known for its work on the PC versions of Square Enix properties including Tomb Raider, Deus Ex, Hitman and Thief, to help it bring its games to the platform.




What is interesting to me about what Layden said is what I highlighted. So the plan to port games PC was going on when he was the boss. Was this ever said before? First I am hearing about it. Can't put all this on Hulst and Ryan then it seems. I too doubt PS games will ever be day one on PC, but would love to see it.
i believe him


Shawn... did you forget that you, as head of Worldwide Studios, greenlit and funded the game Predator Hunting Grounds?

A Sony 1st party game was already released DAY 1 on PC lol.

Published by Sony Interactive Entertainment on April 24 2020 on PS4 & PC.

 

GHG

Gold Member
I think it's going to hurt them in the long run, fragmenting their customers instead of offering a unified service and platform. I have a PS5 but I would like to know my options. There is so much unnecessary obfuscation involved it's like Sony hates being upfront about anything and it's really souring me towards the whole company. Where is my TV firmware?! :messenger_pouting:

Well... I hate to say it but if you already own a PS5 then they have you where they want you. The whole point is to funnel everyone towards getting the hardware.

The way you need to see it is if you want a guarantee that you'll get all the new releases then you need the PS5. If you're willing to live with uncertainty and have to wait an undefined period of time then you can just stick with only having the PC.
 

ACESHIGH

Banned
Couldn't care less about day and date releases. Just focus on delivering quality ports and increasing the number of releases per year. Plenty of games to release on PC from their PS4 and PS3 back catalog. I don't care about PS5 games.
 

Belthazar

Member
Sony is basically releasing the PC ports after each game reaches sales saturation on Playstation. They get quite a few extra copies sold at almost full price (both Horizon Zero Dawn and Days Gone sold more than a million each IIRC) and if they entice some to buy their console while doing so then it's a bonus (unlikely for anyone that didn't want one up until now IMO, but still).

So yeah, I don't think releasing their tentpole titles on PC day and date aligns with their strategy or benefit their business model in any way.
 
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Kilau

Gold Member
Well... I hate to say it but if you already own a PS5 then they have you where they want you. The whole point is to funnel everyone towards getting the hardware.

The way you need to see it is if you want a guarantee that you'll get all the new releases then you need the PS5. If you're willing to live with uncertainty and have to wait an undefined period of time then you can just stick with only having the PC.
Well the thing is, my spending on PlayStation has dropped to nearly zero in the last year. I want to be their customer on both sides but they make it hard.
 

Belthazar

Member
Release P5 game. Send it over to nixxes. Having them churning out PC games like an assembly line giving Druckmann more time to explore breakthrough immersive ways to virtue signal.

I was hoping Nixxes would be used to devise a solution to make PS1 and PS2 (or even PS3, who knows) games playable on PS5... or even do ports of some of their most iconic franchises into collections for the PS5. One has to assume that backwards compatibility will be a thing for the foreseeable future (due to the architecture being more conventional and market demand), so it's the perfect time to bring everything forward.

But yeah... they'll most likely use them to churn pc ports a couple years after release for each game.
 
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Saber

Gold Member
Why would one believe this gonna be a thing when they just released ports of already old games? That line of thinking is weird, they never had any intention of release games on day one for PC.
 
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Metnut

Member
Why does anyone think they would release first party AAA games day 1 on PC?

Sony views PC as simply a way to make some extra cash on older games and maybe if people like the games enough they get a PlayStation so they can play the new games, not the ones that are half a decade old.
 

Guilty_AI

Member
Eh, i'd say its a poor interpretation of the market given a lot of players from the west are either fully aware of what they're "missing out" on or already own consoles for said games, but I imagine the "new costumers" they're refering to are players from places like south/southeast asia.

Even so, i'd still say its a bad interpretation. There are more fundamental issues on why people from places like these might skip out on consoles, namely the hardware and their games can be expensive as fuck. So most people just opt for a low-middle range PC or mobile together with F2P or cheap games with lots of content.
Why chuck out 70$ for an expensive release you can finish in 2 weekends AND needs a specific hardware that can go for as high a 1000$ in these places? When they can pay 1$ for a game like l4d2 that runs on their grandma's computer and have a lifetime of fun both alone and with friends?

I should also mention, the dick of these games really isn't as big as Sony thinks they are. The way Shawn describes them makes me think they should really start looking out of their journo bubble for a bit. Perhaps they already are actually, considering they're seem to be trying to get into multiplayer and MMO businesses.
 
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DrAspirino

Banned
Very bad business model to release games day 1 on PC, when you want PC players to buy a PlayStation. Those who doesn't buy a PS, can wait a year or two and get a better experience (maybe).
This is how it will work until everything is cloud gaming.
1) Are you sure about that? Because from where I see it, software profit maximizes the very first 6 months from a game release, and from then on is just going downward. If you want to squeeze as much profit as possible from a PlayStation Studios title, the obvious thing would be to release it day-one on PS4/5 and PC. Also, you have to consider that PC releases don't have any physical media, so Sony doesn't have to spend even a dime on physical distribution. It's a win-win situation for them.

Why do you think they bought Nixxes in the first place? To release games 12 months later? Ha!

2) Never, and I mean NEVER underestimate the greediness of gaming companies. They will change the distribution and release model as they see fit in otder to maximize their profit until Cloud gaming becomes viable in more regions of the world.
 
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StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
Release P5 game. Send it over to nixxes. Having them churning out PC games like an assembly line giving Druckmann more time to explore breakthrough immersive ways to virtue signal.
This is in essence what their plan is with Nixxes. They weren't bought to sit there tiddling their thumbs. They are going to be churning out games. By the time UC4/LL release it'll be 3 games in 18 months and that's even without Nixxes helping.

Since UC4/LL is coming out "early 2022", no doubt there will more PS games coming later in 2022. Just a matter of guessing which game. After Nixxes is settled in, I'd say 3 PS games per year come to PC. Sony has a big back catalog to go through. And that even excludes PS5 games that can come later.
 
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Saber

Gold Member
1) Are you sure about that? Because from where I see it, software profit maximizes the very first 6 months from a game release, and from then on is just going downward. If you want to squeeze as much profit as possible from a PlayStation Studios title, the obvious thing would be to release it day-one on PS4/5 and PC. Also, you have to consider that PC releases don't have any physical media, so Sony doesn't have to spend even a dime on physical distribution. It's a win-win situation for them.

Sorry but its pretty hard to buy that. Sony, alongside Nintendo, doesn't sell just games. They sell hardware as well. Making day one for PC would be an incredibly stupid move, devaluating PS5 consoles and acessories as whole.
 

Belthazar

Member
1) Are you sure about that? Because from where I see it, software profit maximizes the very first 6 months from a game release, and from then on is just going downward. If you want to squeeze as much profit as possible from a PlayStation Studios title, the obvious thing would be to release it day-one on PS4/5 and PC. Also, you have to consider that PC releases don't have any physical media, so Sony doesn't have to spend even a dime on physical distribution. It's a win-win situation for them.

Why do you think they bought Nixxes in the first place? To release games 12 months later? Ha!

2) Never, and I mean NEVER underestimate the greediness of gaming companies. They will change the distribution and release model as they see fit in otder to maximize their profit until Cloud gaming becomes viable in more regions of the world.

The thing is... most of the money is made from the 30% they get from each penny spent by people who are trapped in their ecosystem, not from how many first party games they sell. So yeah, maximizing profit from each title they publish might not be worth it if they jeopardize their entire business model in the process.
 
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StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
The thing is... most of the money is made from the 30% they get from each penny spent by people who are trapped in their ecosystem, not from how many first party games they sell. So yeah, maximizing profit from each title they publish might not be worth it if they jeopardize their entire business model in the process.
Depends on how many gamers leave the PS ecosystem and go PC.

I don't know. PS gamers seem pretty loyal to the console and brand. How many of you PS4 or PS5 gamers will abandon ship PS console gaming and buy a good PC to play their games?

Console gaming isnt big in every country either. But if that region has a PC focus, that's a lot of potential PC games sold vs. consolers switching over.
 
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BennyBlanco

aka IMurRIVAL69
No they don't. They have completely different goals to what Microsoft are doing and that's ok.

This is what they want from PC gaming as outlined in previous quarterly earnings calls:
  • To port over titles that have flatlined in sales on the PS platform, the port allows for increased revenue with very little additional outlay (this is why they acquired Nixxes).
  • To seek out and capture new potential playstation hardware and ecosystem customers - for example if they port across the first 2 spiderman games prior to the sequel releasing there is an increased chance someone who enjoyed the first 2 games on PC would potentially buy a PS5 to get day one access to the next game - this is why the quality of the ports are of paramount importance, they want new customers to have a good first impression. Its worth noting the expectations are not huge for this point, it's very much "bonus" territory.
They want people buying their hardware and they want people in their ecosystem, everything they are aiming to do on the PC complements that. It's a different strategy to what Xbox are doing in that they don't care so much about people buying hardware, they just want people to subscribe to their services.

There will be exceptions to the rule of "port later", primarily with any future multiplayer games (or multiplayer components of games) but the primary strategy feeds in to the more traditional console model that's served them so well. They were keen to reiterate the fact that they are not willing to compromise/dilute brand identity (which is centered around the console experience) while embarking on this initiative.


If that's their plan, which it very well may be. It's dumb. Very few people are gonna be so enticed by Days Gone that they drop PC gaming and buy a playstation to buy multiplats there. People like me are probably not that valued by Sony. I bought a ps4 last gen and played bloodborne, god of war, spiderman, odin sphere, a few other things. Never bought PS+ and never bought anything multiplat. THey are not making money selling hardware, or very very little. The money is in software sales and services. MS is making money hand over fist on steam and obviously Sony sees this.

I predict by the end of the gen we'll either get a Sony launcher and day/date releases. A partnership with Epic to make EGS a second home for their stuff. Or they just end the PC ports altogether. I really doubt they continue this slow trickle they're doing now.
 
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