According to a new report, PlayStation dropped out of plans for PC releases for upcoming games due to an inconsistency in the games that they had released to the platform, as well as a lack of revenue from them. This comes according to Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier, who posted on the gaming forum ResetEra that PlayStation staff had outlined several reasons why the company has changed release tactics for single-player titles, now set to be exclusive to the PlayStation consoles.
These reasons, which Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Herman Hulst outlined to staff, stated that the PC ports were “inconsistent”, didn’t generate enough profits, and that the company wanted to align their biggest franchise with their hardware. There are no current plans to take this on a case-by-case basis, with PC ports of titles like Ghost of Yotei and Marvel’s Wolverine being canceled. Live service titles like Helldivers 2 or the upcoming Marvel Tokon: fighting Souls will continue to release across platforms, with this policy change specifically affecting single-player and narrative-driven releases.
Schreier stated:
During a townhall a few weeks ago, Hermen Hulst told staff that their single-player narrative games will be PlayStation only. He explained that they were inconsistent with their PC releases, they didn’t make enough money, and they want to keep their IP aligned to their own platform. Confirmed this with two people who heard him say it. There’s no ‘case by case’ here.
Obviously, these statements made internally, if accurate, ignore a major issue. Even when releasing games on PC, they were not a priority for Sony or PlayStation. Some titles might make the leap months later, while others would see release on PC several years after their console counterpart, long after any hype or excitement had died down. Hulst, when referring to these releases being “inconsistent,” was specifically referring to release quality, which itself is accurate, with The Last of Us Part 1 having a very problematic launch on PC.
Sony acquired Nixxes Software in 2021, with PC ports of PlayStation games being a central part of that strategy, as the studio had previously worked on PlayStation Games like God of War Ragnarok. The studio helped port Horizon: Forbidden West Complete Edition, Death Stranding 2: On The Beach, and Helldivers 2. The studio has also worked on console titles like Saros. What a shift in strategy will mean to a company like Nixxes remains to be seen.
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