After months of rumors and speculation, PlayStation has finally confirmed a major change in strategy. Reports had suggested that Sony was planning to stop bringing its biggest PS5 exclusives to PC, and comments from PlayStation CEO Hideaki Nishino have now confirmed those claims. Going forward, the company will keep its major first-party single-player games exclusive to PlayStation consoles, while PC releases will focus on live-service multiplayer titles.
In an interview with Famitsu, Nishino explained that Sony chooses platforms based on what works best for each game. “We’ve always determined platform selection based on the characteristics of each title. If releasing a title on PC would maximize the gaming experience, we’ll continue to consider that option.”
He also made it clear that Sony wants to increase the value of PS5 through exclusive single-player games made by its own studios. That means titles such as Ghost of Yotei, Marvel’s Wolverine, and Saros, which many players expected to eventually reach PC, are now unlikely to receive PC versions.
However, live-service multiplayer games will follow a different strategy. He said (thanks ResetERA), “At the same time, we believe it is important for live-service games to reach a wider audience through online multiplayer, so we continue to view releases on both PS5 and PC as the standard.” Considering this, games such as Marathon and other future live-service games will continue launching on both platforms.
While Sony did not explain exactly why it made this change, it could simply be because certain PC ports did not generate the revenue the company expected. There is also the possibility that delayed PC releases reduced the need for some players to buy PlayStation hardware, as they could simply wait for the PC version instead. In that case, Sony may have decided that keeping its single-player games exclusive to PlayStation would help increase console sales and strengthen the value of its hardware.
