Sony will no longer port its first-party single player games to PC and other platforms, a new Bloomberg report reveals.
Following on from claims the hardware manufacturer would take a step back from its multi-platform efforts, a Jason Schreier report states that single player titles will now remain exclusive to PlayStation systems like PS5. Live service titles, such as Marathon and Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls will still launch elsewhere, but that's as far as it goes now.
According to sources speaking to Bloomberg, Ghost of Yotei and next month's Saros will remain PS5 exclusive.
Sources "cautioned that things could change in the future due to the unpredictable nature of the video-game industry and that Sony’s plans are constantly shifting. But in recent weeks PlayStation scrapped plans to bring Ghost of Yotei and other internally developed games to PC."
One reason for the change in approach is attributed to a "faction" within PlayStation expressing "concern that releasing their games on PC risks damaging the console’s brand and will hurt sales of the PlayStation 5 and its successors". PC ports in the past also haven't sold particularly well.
Another factor mentioned in the report is how Microsoft's next Xbox console will be more of a PC than a traditional games system, which allows it to access multiple storefronts. This puts it in a position where it could theoretically play PlayStation-published games.
The full report follows on from claims and suggestions floating online surrounding the idea PlayStation could scale back its PC publishing efforts. Schreier, who wrote the report in question, previously said he'd heard Sony is "backing away from putting their exclusive console stuff, like traditional single-player stuff, on PC".
What's your reaction to this? Post your thoughts in the comments below.
[source bloomberg.com]
Comments 90
So the rumored Concord PC port might still happen.
Wise decision. The strength and value of a console brand is more important than the extra bit of revenue gained from porting games to PC. Sony's in a position where it should always strive to be more like Nintendo than Microsoft when it comes to exclusives.
I've said this time and time again; Sony should stick to exclusives as it is why I buy their consoles every single generation.
Porting their games to PC, and now latterly PlayStation, is a major part of Xbox woes because you could play their games elsewhere. You did not need an Xbox.
Live Service games are completely different as they live or die based on the size of their community. It absolutely makes sense to seek out as many gamers as possible by going to other platforms.
I'm glad that Sony has finally realised this...
We're healing everyone.
Excellent news. I will always champion PlayStation Studios first-party single-player games staying exclusive to PlayStation consoles. Very few people cause drama when Nintendo games are exclusive to Nintendo consoles, yet when PlayStation does the same thing, it's labeled as "anti-consumer" by some. Cry me a damn river.
@Oram77 God bless whoever that faction is within PlayStation that thought going to PC dilutes their identity.
It's a smart business move. Even I was planning to buy a gaming PC for next Gen and not get the new PlayStation in spite of having every single PlayStation console still hooked up and having hundreds of physical games throughout all system.
Most of my friends that still game got gaming PCs and got rid of their PS5s or they're collecting dust.
Now I'll probably get the new PlayStation system. Also, hope they start coming out with more single player games. Because there have not been many this generation.
The PC crowd is crying and moaning about this but it makes total sense from Sony's point of view. They diluted their brand and now they're reigning it in.
Good. This only drives competition. And competition creates better games.
Good news
Now we only need those rare exclusives to release
How many worth mentioning we got on ps5 so far? 1 or 2? 5 max
I knew they were terrified of that xbox strategy lol. Honestly, after steam users mass rejected a PSN requirement it was inevitable. Of course, this would feel like more of a loss if they actually published single player games. I know that they have been drip feeding us, but none of the games released have jumped out at me. I'll probably buy wolverine, but nothing else interests me personally
@Fiendish-Beaver i agree i think exclusivity is an important feature for consoles and what draws a lot of people to each brand.
Id like to see Xbox return to exclusive games, but fear it’s too late for them.
Hopefully this puts an end to PC Supremacist fanboys being so annoying.
It makes sense from the perspective that these games aren't really selling so why bother? Regarding the non-exclusivity hurting the brand? I don't know. I guess if people are superfans to the extent that it pains them to think that people on a different system can play the games... yeah. I don't really care. I don't think PlayStation games being on PC hurts the brand. PC is its own thing. I don't care either way - I have a PlayStation and I don't have a PC.
Nixxes will be gone with a year or two.
Great news. Long live the exclusives! I hope this signals that they are more focused on new singleplayer games.
GaaS = downfall
This statement + Shift Up wanting to self-publish Stellar Blade's sequel is starting to add up so its not exclusive to PlayStation. I'd say the writing was on the wall.
Between this and the news of the Bloodborne remaster rejections, not a good week to be a PC soulsborne fan
This makes a lot of sense. Initially their games sold quite will on PC, but sales have tailed off. If you aren't making lots of money off it then it isn't worth the blow to your platform.
It's especially an issue with PC becoming more prevalent, especially with "under the TV" more console like PCs on the horizon, if both Xbox and PlayStation games play on these devices then that becomes more tempting for anyone on the fence.
I think the timing also makes sense, let gamers know ahead of Steam Machine and next gen.
The obvious downside is that now their live service games will be able to make money across all platforms, whereas their single player games will have to make do on PlayStation alone to turn a decent profit, that perhaps makes it harder to green light these in future.
Thats what Im talking about. Thats my Sony. Thats my Playstation. I really considered leaving Playstation for PC, even though I owned every Playstation home console.
I wish Microsoft would do the same so I could justify having an Xbox other than just for backwards compatibility. It'll never happen though since the Xbox brand seems to be being led out to pasture gradually.
Lets get "Only on PlayStation" back on the boxes, cmon chop chop lets go
Good, it’s ultimately great for the long term of the PlayStation platform, revenue from PC ports was minuscule and not worth the devaluation of the console in recent years as how many times have we read “you don’t need a console anymore” or “PS5 no games” trolling online?
Finally some course correction clearly brought forward by Nishino.
I'm glad the higher ups are aware of the threat that both the next Xbox and Steam Machine poses where they were being set up to weaponise their own 1st party games against their own platform.
Really hope this change in strategy doesn't result in Nixxes getting shut down.
@Meowmixes98 The PC crowd was VERY loud in demanding Sony games on PC, but for the most part they didn’t actually buy their games.
Currently the only way to play playstation games in vr (besides gt7), is via mod on pc. If then sony uses the "saved" resources to instead add VR modes to some of the games on ps5 I would be more than happy.
@RBMango believe it or not, there is a pretty vocal audience that wanted Nintendo to put games on PC and other consoles .
I think the upcoming Steam and Xbox consoles is the main reason why they are scaling back, it would be a disaster if Microsoft announces "Wolverine and TLOU 3 now playable on your new Xbox Series YZ!".
Surprised it took them this long, those pc sales were dreadfully low
Only porting their live service outings is mad 😂
This is actually a smart move. If you look at the data Sonys single player games sales on pc were hardly enough to even justify the ports. At the same time porting everything to pc would just encourage people to buy a pc instead of investing into Sonys consoles.
@SaucyPapi I don't think Microsoft CAN do the same. They have a much smaller console market share than Sony, but they also have a lot more studios, people only buy so many games each year on average, meaning most would likely fail to make a profit. Also Game Pass is cannibalising sales.
In short, Xbox are now too big to make most games exclusive, but they have enough studios to make a few select games exclusive.
It will be interesting to see if/how they manage this under new leadership. But I wouldn't expect this to turn around, the financials just don't work for them.
That is extremely disappointing. But then again, I suppose that's a common thing with Sony these days, unfortunately.
Great news for ... Sony themselves!
A shame that the body of PC players are so "terrible" as to not "deserve" a port.
I agree with a lot of people here and think that this has been prompted by the fact that the next Xbox and Steam Machine would be able to play PlayStation games.
Kinda funny since Capcom said over 50% of the 5 million sales for RE9 were on pc and they're glad they're shifting more towards pc due to how strong the sales are there.
But I guess this means Nixxes will likely close due to them being bought to help with pc ports.
After a lifetime of seeing "PC Master Race" garbage, I'm not losing any sleep over this one.
So does that mean Nixxes Software is the next PS studio to be axed?
It is too late for Xbox, @General-Foley. An accumulation of exclusives takes time to build up, as does consumer confidence. Add to that Microsoft would need to accept for probably the entirety of the next generation, their first-party offerings would sell very few copies on the Xbox if the game were only available on Xbox, and we all know that Microsoft would not be willing to accept that. Plus, of course, the next Xbox is rumoured to be a PC, so unless they could somehow limit it to the Xbox side of things, it would be on the PC too anyway.
Microsoft would also need to restructure Game Pass and remove day one first-party games entirely. Games would need to be on sale on the Xbox only, and not go on to Game Pass for at least 12 months. All of that leads me to believe Microsoft will not change anything in relation to exclusivity.
Sadly, I don't think there is any saving Xbox now. Microsoft will go on to be the worlds biggest publisher with great success, but Xbox consoles will become a collector's item...
This is a great move. Sony is starting to realize what drives their fan base to the console brand itself. Plus, they weren’t getting enough revenue from single player games on PC, at least not enough to satiate the need to shift in that direction.
Hulst finally has a new studio to close, Nixxes, which was acquired to port PS exclusives to PC.
Hulst learned from Ryan, who closed London Studio (were he worked for some time) basically on his last day before retirement.
Personally I don't mind if Sony go this route BUT I would want them to continue to produce PC ports for game series that have already had them. It's terrible when a series you've supported becomes unavailable on the console/pc you've always played it on.
right, so after 5 years of going in the wrong direction, sony is suddenly listening to the fans' concerns about the brand?
i don't buy that argument. sony hasn't listened to the core fans about anything this entire generation and couldn't care less what we think. sony is scared of steam machines and its pc ports have been a big disappointment. that is what this reversal is about. i'll believe it when i see it.
now, if only sony could learn a lesson or two about service games, get its pricing back down to earth and create some games with fresh ideas again...
The world is healing! I was planning on ditching PlayStation and now I’m
Buying ps6. See how simple this market is.
I've said it before and I'll say it again. Even as a primary PC gamer I welcome this news. Yes I had a good run of picking up PS games for my rig, but I stand by my firm belief that a game consoles strength, for a number of reasons, lies in its exclusives. It's why I buy them.
So I guess I was right about Sony closing a loophole allowing Xbox access to PS exclusives should the Microsoft hybrid console with Steam functionality come to fruition.
@Dr_ENT possibly. it doesn't look good for that studio unless they can turn them into a support studio rather than a porting house.
Now get rid of PS+ 'requirements' for basic functionality and we'll be cookin.
I'm not a fan of exclusivity though. My preference is similar to how Sony has operated... deliver a fully optimized/polished first party game on first party hardware first, then port it over to the others. Too many other studios just publish unoptimized slop when they start out as multiplatform.
It was one of the many reasons I got a pc in the 1st place. I mean I'm not just gonna drop it now that I have it lol, but if saros and yotei do stay exclusive then I'm obviously playing them on the ps5 and I don't mind one bit
Now that they've established they should have exclusives, they should start making another astro bot and infamous 😩
I think for Sony the next Xbox is less of a concern, even if it's a PC with an Xbox sticker that plays Steam and Epic games, and who knows when it will release and at which price.
Their bigger problem is Valve's Steam Machine, a console-like gaming PC which connects to your TV, has more exclusives from indie developers by default, has cheaper games and doesn't require a subscription for online gaming.
Good decision! Will sell more consoles even if people mainly play elsewhere. Focus on making plenty of great single player games pushing the PS5 to it's limit to keep PS brand strong
Nixxes also work as a support studio mainly handling UX and accessibility, they probably won't be going away since Sony is also all in in that stuff.
MS and Xbox fans will not like this 😂😂😂
Either way i don't care i shell stay with PS until its no longer a thing if that ever happens.
Is this like the 3rd article about the same topic? 😆
@TrollOfWar I think costing 2-3x as much will put a big damper on that.
Schreier's sources "cautioned that things could change in the future due to the unpredictable nature of the video-game industry and that Sony’s plans are constantly shifting."
Something tells me that, after Sony fails miserably to increase PlayStation console market share by a significant margin, they'll go back to doing PC ports 5 years from now.
This is not gonna go the way they think it is, especially not when the PS6 will be more expensive than ever before.
Where does this leave Nixxes then?
That’s what my Pro is for.
The "PlayStation has no games" crowd sure are quiet today
@wildcat_kickz just put them on porting PS3 games over
doesnt sound very consumer friendly
honestly i thought this was always the plan that they would put some games on pc , and then say if you want to play the sequels or new games you'll need a playstation.
@Meowmixes98 Highly doubt it
@Rob_230 they'll still have plenty of work to do, pretty sure they did the port of horizon zero dawn to ps5 , and that came out amazing.
@Toot1st
How so? Exclusives and consoles have always gone hand in hand. Just because Microsoft are trying to change that paradigm doesn't mean Sony and/or Nintendo have to follow suit. 🤷
@Toot1st It's their games, they can do what they want with them
Good. A console needs its exklusives.
Given Microsoft Xbox's new leadership I wonder if they'll now shift the goalposts in light of this news?
I'm not sure it's enough for me. It really depends on whether there's still a physical option. The overriding factor for me personally is that if I'm being forced into digital for modern releases then I'm going Steam all the way.
This definitely shows that Sony have considered they might have underestimated how important good exclusive games are for a lot of people.
@Oram77 On this we agree 😁
@spikes91 @Toot1st
Good. Sony took decades building the best 1st party portfolio out of any company. By no means should our games land on xbox when they go pc/console hybrid next gen. I don't mind PC getting the TLOU's or Horizon's of our world, after they've been out for 5yrs or so. But sorry PC players, if you don't like it, then go talk to xbox for F'in this all up.
@Greifchen speaking of exclusives, nice avatar by the way. I can't wait
@StitchJones
You just repeated yourself, buddy.
Heartbreak Ridge. Great film by the way.
'They adapted, they overcame'
@Czar_Khastik exclusive to pc
@Gemini53 yeah i wanted to reply, forgot to insert replies, thought i deleted after inserting replies, but turns out i didn't delete, therefore i repeated lol. im sure we've all done this once.
"Swede, Swede, Swede, Swede. Sweeeeddddee?????. "Put your chin up. Higher." (powwww!!!!!)
So cut off your nose to spite your face. Got it 👍
Well damn, I was one of the PC players happily playing Sony games on Steam. My PC had pretty much effectively become a PlayStation as I primarily use it to play games that I can’t access on my Xbox. So this’ll definitely impact me a lot.
Will have to see how this plays out. I doubt this will make a huge difference to hardware sales. The huge lag and variable gap between titles launching on console and PC means those remotely interested in PlayStation already have the hardware (I have both PC and PS5). I also suspect exclusive first party titles will be under slightly more pressure to hit sales milestones and justify their development.
I do think Sony have been a bit fortunate that Xbox have put themselves in a position where they need to bring their first party titles to PlayStation. Sony suddenly have a slew of extra games to fill any gaps in their own first party output.
Lastly, if I were anyone working at nixxes I’d be slightly concerned about my long term future with the studio.
THANK GOD ! They finally came to their senses. Now fire Hermen Hulst and all is well.
I like the option of being able to play on PC if I choose to, but it did meant there was less incentive to buy a PS5. Obviously, Sony crunched the numbers on whether it made business sense or not for them.
Pc games haven't been taking advantage of the exquisite library offered up so their should be little complaining no it's being stopped
The world is healing. But seriously, reading this news makes me want to buy Saros and Sons of Sparta way before i planned because:
They seem really damn fun games
I really want to support Sony, by showing them that they don't need to put these games on PC anymore (don't care about the live service games and never will)
There's so many reasons to enjoy being a PS5 gamer now
PS5 will last until 2028-2029? That's great
Games like Kingdom Come Deliverance and Divinity 2 having a native PS5 port only makes me enjoy gaming on console more and more, and let's not forget ports of amazing games like South of Midnight and Avowed coming to PS5
Wolverine, GTA VI and Saros this year? Damn, 2026 will be a fun year for us, PS5 bros
Honestly, I think this is a good idea! By doing so, it'll keep Sony in check im regards to single player game quality so to speak. After all, they want their console to sell!
Well its about time , they dont sell well anyway, i remember when God of war was released on pc and there was 575k people downloading it at one point on a torrent site
I don't like exclusivity. It would be better for gamers if games can be played anywhere. Well, at least for the ones not married to one ecosystem.
@themaladroit I agreed with everything you said , then you spoilt it by mentioning avowed ,and I was a little sick in my mouth 😂
Wise choice Sony now make sum decent games to shift some more PS5's.
@Rjak well I want a free laptop with a mobile phone but I cant get one because its exclusive to new customers , I also want to watch knight of the seven kingdoms on netflix , but guess what.......😏
@Oram77 wait. “We’re healing everyone”? Including the terrorists?
@Olskeezy What competition tho? Nintendo is basically in their own corner, and Playstation is the only mid-high console. This is more about milking money than driving competition. They can now charge whatever they want knowing that the only place you can buy their games is on their platform with massively inflected pricing just like Nintendo; vs when you could buy them on PC from multiple open store fronts that had pricing from as low as $40-$70.
So schmart Sony, so very schmart. Pff
Good news. It’s not like there are that many games to port yet, or that many first-party exclusives released each year anyway.
But sure, let’s hope for more single-player games too.
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