Sony Sony clarifies its PC release strategy: games will release on PC "at least a year" after PlayStation release with the "possible exception" of live-service titles

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

PlayStation games will wait ‘at least a year’ before their PC release, except for live service titles | VGC

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PlayStation Studios head Herman Hulst has said that he believes future PlayStation titles will have to wait at least a year following their launch to appear on PC, aside from live service games.

 

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PlayStation Studios head Hermen Hulst thinks Sony’s future console games will have to wait “at least a year” before coming to PC, aside from live service titles.

 

Speaking to Julien Chieze, Hulst outlined the future of Sony’s dual platform release strategy.

 

“I think going forward we’ll see at least a year between releases on PlayStation and on the PC platform, possibly with the exception of live service games,” Hulst said.

 

“Live service games are a little bit different in nature because you want to have a strong community, strong engagement right away, right when you go live, so we might in the case of our live service offerings go day and date with PC and the PlayStation platform.”

 

 

[Mr.Vic20]

If they release every game a year later than I might be done with Sony consoles for good! 

[Ghost_MH]

Forbidden West spring 2023? I'd take it. No need to stretch that out further, right?

[ShreddieMercury]

So PC gamers will get the Miles Morales remake in 2024 if I'm calculating this correctly.

[Xbob42]

I bet this gap will start to further shrink (more than it already has from the "several years" approach they've currently been on) as the investors are like "YO WHY AREN'T YOU GETTING US THAT FREE MONEY" "You're gonna make us wait a year for more returns? When you could strike now while the iron's hot and the product is at peak popularity??" I bet it gets harder and harder to justify the gap as time goes on, especially as investors points to Microsoft doing day-and-date releases. I imagine the "well it gives the games a long tail and spikes popularity during slow release windows" becomes a harder sell for the same reason everything long-term in business is a harder sell: I want money NOW!

[Mr.Vic20]

8 minutes ago, Xbob42 said:

I bet this gap will start to further shrink (more than it already has from the "several years" approach they've currently been on) as the investors are like "YO WHY AREN'T YOU GETTING US THAT FREE MONEY" "You're gonna make us wait a year for more returns? When you could strike now while the iron's hot and the product is at peak popularity??" I bet it gets harder and harder to justify the gap as time goes on, especially as investors points to Microsoft doing day-and-date releases. I imagine the "well it gives the games a long tail and spikes popularity during slow release windows" becomes a harder sell for the same reason everything long-term in business is a harder sell: I want money NOW!

Yup, this is the "ease in" phase, so as to not freak out the Pony boys. 

[Littleronin]

Remember when PC gaming was dead... they mean it this time... really this time it is really dead...

 

[crispy4000]

7 hours ago, Xbob42 said:

I bet this gap will start to further shrink (more than it already has from the "several years" approach they've currently been on) as the investors are like "YO WHY AREN'T YOU GETTING US THAT FREE MONEY" "You're gonna make us wait a year for more returns? When you could strike now while the iron's hot and the product is at peak popularity??" I bet it gets harder and harder to justify the gap as time goes on, especially as investors points to Microsoft doing day-and-date releases. I imagine the "well it gives the games a long tail and spikes popularity during slow release windows" becomes a harder sell for the same reason everything long-term in business is a harder sell: I want money NOW!

 

7 hours ago, Mr.Vic20 said:

Yup, this is the "ease in" phase, so as to not freak out the Pony boys. 

 

Many Japanese publishers already put off their PC ports to focus on getting the game out sooner.  Heck, they can take Epic's bribe and have two soft PC launches after the console release. (looking at you SquareEnix)  It's not untenable to stagger ports these days.

Sony's games also aren't going to sell much less on PC because Microsoft is day and date there.  That's not where they're feeling the pressure.

[AbsolutSurgen]

This makes my decision to be PC only much easier.

[Xbob42]

15 hours ago, crispy4000 said:

 

 

Many Japanese publishers already put off their PC ports to focus on getting the game out sooner.  Heck, they can take Epic's bribe and have two soft PC launches after the console release. (looking at you SquareEnix)  It's not untenable to stagger ports these days.

Sony's games also aren't going to sell much less on PC because Microsoft is day and date there.  That's not where they're feeling the pressure.

Right, they want their games out faster, so they'll start getting questions about why they don't have PC version pipelines set up when other companies do. It'll make less and less sense as time goes on. 

 

As for dual PC releases, that's like 99% Square. 

[crispy4000]

27 minutes ago, Xbob42 said:

Right, they want their games out faster, so they'll start getting questions about why they don't have PC version pipelines set up when other companies do. It'll make less and less sense as time goes on. 

 

As for dual PC releases, that's like 99% Square. 

Sony's still mainly in the console business, not in making the PC a one stop shop.  A question like that could be easily punted as an effort to prop up their consoles' appeal.  Which it is.  They're in a position to have their cake and eat it too.

SquareEnix doesn't share that motivation, but generally they're on the side of staggered ports, especially if someone's willing to pay them for delays.  It's not the industry norm, but they think it'll make them more money, so...

[JPDunks4]

From a business perspective, Playstation doesn't make much money off consumers that buy a PS5 just to buy a few exclusives each year.  They sell the hardware for basically break even, hope they sub to PS+, but with most their games being single player, doubt theres as many of those that play primarily on PC or Xbox.

 

So then the question is, what's the trade off of losing a hardware sale and the few exclusives those consumers buy each year, vs all the benefits of releasing on PC sooner.  I think their metrics are going to show that the synergy of having unified PC and Console releases Day 1 outweight the benefits of those that buy a PS5 just for exclusives.

 

Especially if they start launching games near that 1 year mark and people start to expect it, more and more will be willing to wait that year for the PC release anyway.

[AbsolutSurgen]

11 minutes ago, crispy4000 said:

Sony's still mainly in the console business, not in making the PC a one stop shop.  A question like that could be easily punted as an effort to prop up their consoles' appeal.  Which it is.  They're in a position to have their cake and eat it too.

SquareEnix doesn't share that motivation, but generally they're on the side of staggered ports, especially if someone's willing to pay them for delays.  It's not the industry norm, but they think it'll make them more money, so...

Sony is not in the console business.  They are in the digital store front business, and to a smaller extent the game publishing business.

 

Getting PC gamers to buy their consoles (at a loss) for the exclusives, IMHO, doesn't really help their store front.  Because, most PC gamers are still buying most of their games on Steam/EGS (or publisher specific store fronts).

[crispy4000]

3 minutes ago, JPDunks4 said:

I think their metrics are going to show that the synergy of having unified PC and Console releases Day 1 outweight the benefits of those that buy a PS5 just for exclusives.

I doubt it's just that audience to consider.  Sony's not in a Nintendo like position, where their games consistently sweep their own sales charts.  (see this month's NPDs for example)  It's also why Sony's making such a stink about CoD.

 

 

 

[AbsolutSurgen]

Sony is making a stink about CoD, because they want to make 30% on CoD sales.  And, they think that some console buyers will decide to get an Xbox next gen, instead of a PS5.  IMHO, PC gamers will generally buy their games on Steam if given the choice.

[crispy4000]

18 minutes ago, AbsolutSurgen said:

Sony is not in the console business.  They are in the digital store front business, and to a smaller extent the game publishing business.

 

Their hardware platforms are the general gateway to their digital storefront.  One begets the other.

Perhaps one day they'll open up a native PC storefront, but that's a conversation for another time.

 

18 minutes ago, AbsolutSurgen said:

Getting PC gamers to buy their consoles (at a loss) for the exclusives, IMHO, doesn't really help their store front.  Because, most PC gamers are still buying most of their games on Steam/EGS (or publisher specific store fronts).

 

The number of PC primary gamers who weren't buying their consoles anyways is what pushed them to do multiplatform.  It wouldn't benefit Sony if their audience started abandoning their consoles for PC, so the timed exclusivity is a deterrent.

 

I have no idea if their calculus is correct here.  I have my doubts, same as you all.

 

  

9 minutes ago, AbsolutSurgen said:

Sony is making a stink about CoD, because they want to make 30% on CoD sales.  And, they think that some console buyers will decide to get an Xbox next gen, instead of a PS5.  IMHO, PC gamers will generally buy their games on Steam if given the choice.

 

Yup, my point being that Sony still relies heavily on royalties of multiplatform games to pull in the bacon.  People may chose a PS5 for (timed) exclusives, but they buy plenty of other shit on it too.

[AbsolutSurgen]

12 minutes ago, crispy4000 said:

 

Their hardware platforms are the general gateway to their digital storefront.  One begets the other.

Perhaps one day they'll open up a native PC storefront, but that's a conversation for another time.

 

 

The number of PC primary gamers who weren't buying their consoles anyways is what pushed them to do multiplatform.  It wouldn't benefit Sony if their audience started abandoning their consoles for PC, so the timed exclusivity is a deterrent.

 

I have no idea if their calculus is correct here.  I have my doubts, same as you all.

 

  

 

Yup, my point being that Sony still relies heavily on royalties of multiplatform games to pull in the bacon.  People may chose a PS5 for (timed) exclusives, but they buy plenty of other shit on it too.

My point is that PC gamers, for the most part, don't.

MS had this revelation several years ago, and now releases their games on Steam day-and-date.

[crispy4000]

13 minutes ago, AbsolutSurgen said:

My point is that PC gamers, for the most part, don't.

MS had this revelation several years ago, and now releases their games on Steam day-and-date.

 

I don't buy it, not at the pace PC gaming has boomed over the past decade across world markets.  I definitely believe that PC has made inroads on consoles' share of the pie.  Almost no publisher skips porting to it anymore.

 

Microsoft's decision didn't prompt that trend, but probably contributed to it.  I don't think they would have gone in that direction if Games Pass wasn't part of the plan all along.

[stepee]

I’m going to miss having consoles as I like to play with different devices but next gen it’s going to be realllllly hard to justify now. At least there is always Nintendo!

[Paperclyp]

I just feel like we’re seeing the beginning of the end for Sony. They’re caught between a rock and a hard place. 

[crispy4000]

43 minutes ago, Paperclyp said:

I just feel like we’re seeing the beginning of the end for Sony. They’re caught between a rock and a hard place. 

If Nintendo could survive the Wii U, they’ll be just fine.

 

I never would have believed 10 year ago that the exclusive would die like this.  Now that it has (outside of Nintendo), I’m continually surprised that consoles are still so in demand.  I don’t think the chip shortage fully explains it either.

 

The way Sony comes out of this gen banged up is if PlayStation sales are much worse than projected.  I see more potential of that from the Activision and Besthesda acquisition fallout than anything to do with their PC ports.

[Paperclyp]

4 minutes ago, crispy4000 said:

If Nintendo could survive the Wii U, they’ll be just fine.

 

I never would have believed 10 year ago that the exclusive would die like this.  Now that it has (outside of Nintendo), I’m continually surprised that consoles are still so in demand.  I don’t think the chip shortage fully explains it either.

 

The way Sony comes out of this gen banged up is if PlayStation sales are much worse than projected.  I see more potential of that from the Activision and Besthesda acquisition fallout than anything to do with their PC ports.

But Nintendo will never put their games on a third party machine, and they have enough properties they can remain viable with that strategy. Sony already let that cat out of the bag, and they don’t really have a clear road to any long term competitor to game pass. 
 

I’m not saying they’re going away soon or anything, but they are by far the weakest positioned if the three. 

[crispy4000]

1 hour ago, Paperclyp said:

But Nintendo will never put their games on a third party machine, and they have enough properties they can remain viable with that strategy. Sony already let that cat out of the bag, and they don’t really have a clear road to any long term competitor to game pass. 
 

I’m not saying they’re going away soon or anything, but they are by far the weakest positioned if the three. 

Sony's long term competitor to Games Pass will be some cloud streaming service running on Microsoft servers, lol.

Nearer term, if Sony's PC approach hurts them, yeah, they can't walk it back without pissing everyone off.  But I don't see Microsoft's challenge being all that relevant.  It's not like their PC strategy (day one 1st party and Games Pass) has negatively impacted Spider-Man or God of War sales on Steam.

 

If anything, I could see Sony adjusting PC release windows and PS Extra offerings based on what seems long enough to keep their console audiences invested.

[Paperclyp]

9 hours ago, crispy4000 said:

Sony's long term competitor to Games Pass will be some cloud streaming service running on Microsoft servers, lol.

Nearer term, if Sony's PC approach hurts them, yeah, they can't walk it back without pissing everyone off.  But I don't see Microsoft's challenge being all that relevant.  It's not like their PC strategy (day one 1st party and Games Pass) has negatively impacted Spider-Man or God of War sales on Steam.

 

If anything, I could see Sony adjusting PC release windows and PS Extra offerings based on what seems long enough to keep their console audiences invested.

I don’t think Sony has the ability to play the long game very well. Plus, unlike MS, they don’t really seem to have a cohesive plan for the long game. 

[crispy4000]

54 minutes ago, Paperclyp said:

I don’t think Sony has the ability to play the long game very well. Plus, unlike MS, they don’t really seem to have a cohesive plan for the long game. 

I agree, but it’s also really difficult to tell what the future of the gaming industry is.
 

If its cloud gaming and TV apps, they’re way behind, and will have to reckon with Microsoft owning the space akin to Netflix pre Disney+ when they attempt a comeback.

If it’s subscriptions in general, they’re not going to be able to compete well with a loss leader Microsoft buying up everything, and charging less than would be practical to support all their new projects and development assets.
 

If it’s people going to where the desired content is no matter, they may not have the sway of Nintendo, but they’re still in a much better position than Microsoft was at the end of the Mattrick eta.  Also helps that they’re expanding their brands into other multimedia, which is a smart play all else considered.
 

 

The one thing I’d add about Microsoft right now is that we’re not going to see Games Pass on Nintendo and Sony platforms any time in the foreseeable future.  They’ll have to erode their competitors market share for Games Pass to reach its potential in the space.  Similar goes for PC: consumer patterns need to shift further away from direct purchases and users amassing libraries of their own.

 

All that could be no challenge at all after they own CoD though.

[crispy4000]

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