The console wars used to be a thing, with communities of Sony PlayStation fanatics, Xbox die-hards, and haughty “PC Master Race” zealots dying on their own hills over which is the best for gamers to play. Although the debate may be going out of fashion, exclusive game titles were always among the prime factors that defined the parameters of this age-old debate.
Sony has now shifted its business focus, dropping plans to port single-player first-party PlayStation 5 titles for PC, and thus retaining console exclusivity for its games.
One would think that spreading their nets out as wide as possible to reel in PC gamers would be the more profitable approach, but it’s speculated that the move was motivated by poor sales of PC ports, and that placing PlayStation 5 games on PC has diluted the console brand, hurting sales for the console.
It’s also possible Sony has decided on console exclusivity in response to a new imminent Xbox console, and that executives at Sony were uncomfortable seeing God of War’s Kratos on a new Xbox console. Truth is, no one knows for sure what fuelled this strategic business move.
Recent Sony PlayStation games like Ghost of Yotei and the upcoming Saros are immediate collateral damage, yet games made by external developers but published by PlayStation, like Death Stranding 2 and Kena: Scars of Kosmora, are still planned for release on PC. Meanwhile, multiplayer titles like Marathon and Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls will still be released on PC.
It was a fun six-year run for PC gamers to experience on their own turf what Sony has to offer, but all good things must come to an end, and while things may change again in the future, PC gamers should not bet on having access to future PlayStation titles anytime soon.
Crack open a cold one with Joey, because the moment you approach him, he will start talking about film and video games for days. He spends his waking moments during the weekends meditating on how the latest movie he’s watched or game he’s played has impacted his worldview.
Si Jia
Kevin Low
