Sony will forego the release of PC games. The former head of Sony Interactive now explains that a PC release would reach many, including people who would never buy a PS5.
Sony for a time released its games not only on PlayStation but also on PC and celebrated some major successes. However, Sony wants to pursue a different strategy and think more “console first” to strengthen its hardware and the identity of PlayStation. Because PC players, in most cases, still do not purchase a PS5.
Shawn Layden, who has been the President and CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment America (SIEA) as well as Chairman of SIE Worldwide Studios for many years, stated in a conversation with the YouTube channel PSI that exclusive titles remain important for the console, but one should not underestimate the PC market. This would also reach players who would not buy a console.
Layden: Someone who has been waiting a long time for a PC release would never have bought a PS5 anyway
Layden explained that one will not convince PC players with an exclusive strategy to buy a PS5, as if they must wait for years, they would continue to wait and not purchase a console. Instead, with a PC game, one would reach those people who play outside the console:
If someone waits 18 months for a game to be released on PC, we haven’t lost a sale to them – they wouldn’t have purchased the hardware anyway. You obtain revenue from someone who has remained completely outside your ecosystem until that point. Therefore, I don’t see it as a devaluation of the brand, but rather as an expansion of its reach.
At the same time, Layden emphasizes how important it is to at least bring games as time exclusives for the console. Because if everything were released simultaneously on PlayStation and PC, one would have to compete purely on price. And there, one cannot gain anything and would lose the unique identity of the console:
That’s how one differentiates the platform… If you want to have this experience, you must buy this console. And that has driven up hardware sales, which in turn raised the ecosystem numbers, which in turn increased third-party licensing fees, which in turn stimulated the entire system.
When everything is made available everywhere, you become a mass commodity. And if you become a mass commodity, you only compete on price, and that is a race to the bottom.
For PC players, Sony’s shift in strategy is a heavy blow, as they can enjoy Sony’s games on significantly better hardware and are far less limited on PC than they are on a PS5 or PS5 Pro. An expert claims that Valve might otherwise win the console war. Because with the Steam Machine, they offer the right alternative to consoles: Sony will no longer release games on PC, as Valve could win the console war
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