PlayStation has been cosying up to the PC market for a few years at this point. Horizon Zero Dawn: The Complete Edition was the first to hit Steam and GOG back in November 2020, before the likes of God of War, Marvel’s Spider-Man: Remastered, Days Gone, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart and The Last of Us Part I all followed.
Clearly, there’s continued interest in seeing the best PS5 games come to PC. And reading between the lines of a Sony exec’s recent quotes, there’s at least a chance more PlayStation titles could be headed to a rig near you.
Sony recently held an earnings call to update shareholders on the company’s financial progress during the third quarter of the last fiscal year. While business generally looks quite rosy for PlayStation’s parent company — the Japanese giant revealed sales of ¥3,747.5 billion, 22% up from the year before — it wasn’t all good news. Especially when it comes to the PS5 (thanks Investing.com)
Though Sony's Games and Network sector saw sales increase by 16%, these earnings happened in spite of PS5 missing its shipping target last year.
Though the Games and Network sector saw sales increase by 16%, these impressive earnings happened in spite of PS5 missing its shipping target of 25 million units. On the flipside, sales for the latest console hit a record high of 8.2 million units for the quarter. So it’s certainly not all doom for the PlayStation division.
Still, missing that shipping target is hardly ideal, which could well be what prompted PlayStation Chairman Hiroki Totoki to respond the way he did in a Q&A held after the earnings call (thanks, VGC).
After Totoki was asked why his division had seen an increase in income but not profits, he pivoted to the subject of the costs of making hardware. “... cost reduction in this console cycle is really difficult to come by,” said Totoki. The chairman then added that he thought “multi-platform continues to be the way forward” and that “there are opportunities out there for improvement of margin, so I would like to go aggressive on improving our margin performance.”
It’s no secret profit margins are thin when it comes to manufacturing consoles, and historically it’s normally been easier to make money from game sales. It’s certainly not unknown for companies like Sony and Microsoft to sell their systems at a loss before recouping profits through subsequent software sales.
As to what Totoki actually says, there isn’t a huge amount of substance in there. If you’re a hardcore gamer who loves playing PS4 and PS5 titles on your system (despite lengthy waits that can often take years), you could choose to read “improving our margin performance” in terms of multi-platform PS5 game sales as an indication that Sony wants to see more of its first-party IPs on PC.
Is PlayStation going to take PC more seriously?
Perhaps that could be the case. Considering the original Spidey sandbox and spin-off Miles Morales have already hit Steam and other digital PC storefronts, it would hardly be a shocker if the excellent Marvel’s Spider Man 2 comes to gaming PC and Steam Deck in the not too distant future.
Additionally, you could choose to take Totoki’s words to mean that PlayStation games will launch more quickly on PC. Though I reckon you may be reading what you want to believe if you’re going down that line of thinking. Sony’s exclusives still really matter to the company, so if you’re hoping for simultaneous PS5/PC launches ala the recent Helldivers 2, I’d take a step back and lower your expectations. Remember, the Starship Troopers-esque co-op shooter is a second-party game developed by Arrowhead but only published by Sony. Unlike Insomniac Games or Naughty Dog, Arrowhead isn’t part of PlayStation Studios and is an independent developer instead.
Could Sony shorten the window between games first appearing on PS5 then launching on PC?"
What might be slightly more realistic? Perhaps Sony could shorten the window between games first appearing on PS5 then launching on PC. Looking back, the gap between past PC ports and the PlayStation OGs has been downright cavernous. Examples? Horizon Zero Dawn hit PS4 in February 2017, then launched over three years later for PC in August 2020. Marvel’s Spider-Man swung its way onto PS4 and PS4 Pro back in September 2018, yet Pete wouldn’t get a chance to web up NYC goons on the best gaming laptops until November 2020.
Then there’s the more recent case of The Last of Us Part I. A full graphical overhaul of the PS3 action-adventure classic, Joel and Ellie’s apocalyptic tale was released in early September 2022 for PS5 before eventually launching on PC in late March the following year. It’s just a shame it shipped in a ghastly shape on Steam and the Epic Games Store, though it was thankfully largely fixed with post-launch patchwork.
Maybe that last example is what PC gamers can hope for: Future PS5 titles coming to PC within 12 months of their initial release… hopefully minus TLoU’s hideous bugs. That still feels fairly optimistic to me. The most I can see is Sony approaching this topic on a game by game basis, rather than adopting a blanket strategy that would see the company make such a strong commitment to PG gaming going forward.
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