PC players are still reeling from Bloomberg's report earlier this week that Sony will be pulling back on its strategy of putting its first-party PlayStation titles on PC. Ghost of Yotei and Saros are the first two that seemingly won't be making the jump, and it doesn't seem like any PlayStation Studios titles (at least the single-player ones) will get PC ports in the future.
The key element as to why Sony is backing off from putting its single-player games on PC fell on claims that it simply wasn't worth it. Despite the first batch of PlayStation titles selling well when Sony started putting its single-player exclusives on PC, that didn't stay consistent with more recent releases like Marvel's Spider-Man 2 and The Last of Us Part II.
Now, a new report from GamesIndustry.Biz, based on data from global analytics firm Newzoo, added a little more context to the situation. Outside of multiplayer titles like Helldivers 2 and the recently released Marathon, it was pretty clear that Sony never had any intention of putting its single-player games on PC the same day they launch on PlayStation consoles.
That delay between releases, even though it may seem like a good chance for publishers to double-dip with two launches, doesn't bring the kind of results you might think. According to Newzoo's data, it's not just Sony and PlayStation games that have lower sales when they go for a PC release after a console release.
"Newzoo’s data shows that PlayStation titles ported to PC after their console launch typically see PC account for around 13% of total players in the first three months across both releases. By comparison, when comparable AAA titles launch simultaneously on PC and console, PC contributes closer to 44% of players in the same period," said Manu Rosier, director of market intelligence at Newzoo.
"What’s notable is that this pattern is not specific to Sony’s first-party portfolio. We see almost no difference between first-party PlayStation titles (12% PC share) and third-party PlayStation exclusives (13%), suggesting the outcome is primarily driven by the staggered release strategy rather than franchise demand on PC."
Rosier continues that the main takeaway from the data is that the timing of the releases is what has a bigger impact more than anything else. "When a PC version arrives years after the console launch, much of the early lifecycle demand has already been captured on the primary platform."
Unlike the path that Xbox has clearly chosen, especially now that we have confirmation its next console will be a hybrid that plays both PC and console games, it's clear that PlayStation doesn't want to make its own hardware obsolete, and wants to ensure players still have a reason to buy a PS5 or PS6 - even if it is just for exclusive games.
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