Sony: PC ports should whet the appetite for Playstation
Sony wants to continue to "strategically" port its own productions to the PC. The company also hopes that this will improve Playstation sales figures.
"Horizon: Forbidden West" is the latest PC port from the Sony portfolio.
(Image: Sony)
PC gamers can continue to look forward to time-shifted ports of PlayStation games. This was confirmed by the soon-to-be Co-CEO, Hermen Hulst, in a Q&A session with investors. The "strategic" ports of PlayStation studios' own developments are intended, among other things, to stimulate PC gamers' interest in buying a console, said Hulst – for example, so that they can play a sequel directly at launch.
Sony recently brought its own single-player productions to the PC, with some delay. There is no reliable time gap: in the case of "Horizon Forbidden West" and "Spider-Man: Miles Morales", there were two years between the console and PC release. Two older titles that were developed before Sony's new focus on the PC took a little longer: "God of War" and "Ghost of Tsushima" were four years away. Meanwhile, fans are still waiting for the PC port of 'The Last of Us Part 2', which was released in 2020. A port of 'God of War: Ragnarok', which will be two years old in the fall, has also not yet been announced.
Sony has other plans for multiplayer titles, Hulst confirmed in the Q&A session. Games such as "Helldivers 2" will also be released simultaneously on PlayStation and PC in the future. Games like this not only live from the sales price, but also from regular player spending ("microtransactions") for additional cosmetic items. Accordingly, it makes sense here to amass as large a player base as possible from the outset, as long as the game is still being actively supplied with content.
Sony's rethink
Just a few years ago, it would have been unthinkable for Sony to bring its prestigious in-house productions to the PC. For years, exclusive series such as "God of War", "Horizon" and "Uncharted" were seen as a guarantee of PlayStation success: anyone who wanted to play these games, which are among the most elaborate single-player titles ever, simply had to buy a PlayStation.
2020 saw a change in strategy: with the PC version of "Horizon: Zero Dawn", Sony announced the first conversion of a real top-class game from its own development for the PC. PC versions should not only attract more attention for the PlayStation, but also generate additional revenue. Sony has even developed its own overlay for its PC ports. Meanwhile, the account requirement for some ports of PlayStation games has caused controversy.
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