During the last few years, playing the great PlayStation exclusives on PC It had gone from being a distant dream to something relatively commonplace. Horizon Zero Dawn, God of War, Marvel's Spider-Man, and The Last of Us gradually arrived on Steam and Epic, lagging behind PS4 and PS5, but marking a significant shift in Sony's strategy.
Now, several media reports and Insider Very well-established ones point in the same direction: Sony is reportedly halting PC releases of its internally developed PS5 single-player games.The change wouldn't affect their entire catalog, but it would affect major productions. single player that have historically defined the PlayStation brand, something that could significantly change the landscape for computer gamers in Spain and the rest of Europe.
A shift in the PC port strategy
Until now, the unwritten rule was clear: the PlayStation Studios single-player games were coming to PC with a delay of one, two, or several years, while multiplayer or service titles tended to be released simultaneously or almost simultaneously on console and PC. This model allowed Sony to capitalize on its flagship franchises beyond PS4 and PS5 without relinquishing the "console exclusive" label.
However, sources consulted by Bloomberg and comments from Jason Schreier in the podcast Triple Clicks They indicate that the company would have decided drastically reduce or even stop the ports of their big single-player adventures to PCThe exception would be in games. live service and multiplayer, where the goal is to gather as many users as possible, and in some external projects that PlayStation only publishes.
Schreier maintains that his impression is not based solely on assumptions, and has hinted that “More details will be available very soon” This change of course coincides with the publication of a report in Bloomberg that elaborates on the information.
Digital FoundryThe leading technical publication in the sector has also detected signs in the same direction: according to its analysis, the new PlayStation management team is pushing for a setback in the commitment to PC for first-party single-player titles, maintaining support for multiplayer projects and certain agreements with external studios.
Which games would be affected and which would continue to be released on PC
If these plans are confirmed, the great single-player titles developed by internal PlayStation teams They would be the main victims. Names like Marvel's Wolverine, the new project known as Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet or own Ghost of Yotei would then be considered, at least for now, PS5 exclusives with no PC version in sight.
Bloomberg goes so far as to suggest that, In recent weeks, Sony has reportedly internally cancelled the PC port of Ghost of Yotei. along with “other internal games.” These would be projects that were already being evaluated or even developed for computers and that, with this new policy, have been shelved. The case of saros, an action game announced only for consoles that, with the new approach, would hardly see the light on platforms like Steam.
On the opposite end of the spectrum are titles with a strong online component. According to leaks and analyses, Games as a service and clearly multiplayer offerings will continue to rely on the multiplatform model.This group would include projects such as Marathon o Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Soulsdesigned to thrive on large and lasting communities, something difficult to achieve if they are limited to a single console.
Some projects would also remain relatively unaffected by this slowdown, where PlayStation acts as publisher, but development is handled by external studios.. This is the case of Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, signed by Kojima Productions and with a PC release date set for March 19, or works like Kena: Scars of Cosmorawhere their independent team seeks the largest possible audience from the outset.
From full opening to braking: a cycle that may have run out
Context helps to better understand the shift. Since 2020, when Horizon Zero Dawn was released on SteamSony gradually opened up its historical catalog on PC. God of War (2018), Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered, Miles Morales, Days GoneReturnal, Ratchet & Clank: A Separate Dimension, Ghost of Tsushima Director's Cut or The Last of Us: Part 1, among others, ended up coming to PC.
According to data compiled by Alinea Analytics, this strategy would have generated approximately $1.200 billion net on Steam For PlayStation games, a significant figure but one whose distribution is not homogeneous: a very large part of the pie would correspond to successes such as Helldivers 2 and the first ports of each saga.
That's precisely one of the keys. Reports indicate that The sequels on PC have sold significantly less than the first installments.God of War (2018) reached 4,2 million copies on Steam, while God of War Ragnarök would be around 940.000. Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered would have reached 2,7 million, compared to just around 700.000 units for Spider-Man 2.
Something similar happens with Horizon: Zero Dawn surpassed 4,5 million copies not counting the remastered version, while Forbidden West would not have surpassed one million.In percentages, we're talking about drops of between 67% and 80% in sales for sequels, a difference too big to ignore in medium-term planning.
There are exceptions that prove the rule. Stellar BladeDeveloped by the Korean studio Shift Up and published by Sony, it reportedly sold around 2,4 million copies and achieved very high numbers of concurrent users, driven largely by interest in the Asian market. Another atypical case is helldivers 2with more than 20 million units sold between Steam, PS5 and Xbox, although in both examples we are talking about second party games or specific agreements, not large purely first party single-player campaigns.
Economic reasons and fear of diluting the PlayStation brand
The fact that Sony has generated hundreds of millions of dollars in PC sales doesn't mean the equation is that simple. According to internal documents leaked in Epic's lawsuit against Apple, Porting a game to PC usually costs between $1 million and $5 million.With that range, almost any launch that crosses a certain sales threshold should be profitable in strictly financial terms.
But not all the numbers are in our favor. To those costs we must add the Valve's standard 30% commission on Steam about the first ten million in revenue, potential PC-specific marketing expenses, and subsequent technical support. And not all projects have responded the same way: titles like LEGO Horizon AdventuresSackboy or the Until Dawn remake They would have achieved modest results, questioning to what extent it pays to invest in the port when the public simply does not respond.
Beyond the numbers, Sony is concerned about the long-term effect on its own ecosystem. Several analysts agree that the idea is prevalent within the company that Bringing too many exclusives to PC can reduce the appeal of buy a PlayStation 5 and even influence the future PS6. The PlayStation brand has historically been built on the promise of experiences that could only be lived on its consoles, and there is some apprehension that this identity will be diluted.
Added to this is another concern: the advance of Xbox is moving towards a model increasingly similar to the PC.There has been speculation that Microsoft's next consoles could run PC games more directly, which, combined with the arrival of PlayStation ports on Steam, would open the door for part of Sony's catalog to be played comfortably on non-PlayStation machines.
The Nixxes acquisition and a less certain future for the PC
One of the points that generates the most debate among European players is the role of Nixxes SoftwareThe Dutch team has been behind highly acclaimed ports such as Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered, Miles Morales, Horizon Forbidden West, Ratchet & Clank: Apart, and Ghost of Tsushima Director's Cut.
If the new direction takes hold, many are wondering if Nixxes' approach will have to be reoriented towards other tasks within the PlayStation ecosystem or if they will be limited to specific projects. The feeling is that A cycle has been completedMost major franchises already have at least one installment available on PC, and the impact of new arrivals is less than in the first wave.
Furthermore, not all releases have been a bed of roses. Ports like The Last of Us: Part 1 They debuted with serious technical problems on PC that took months to fix. Returnal and the first Horizon Zero Dawn also had rocky starts. While many other games have performed well from day one, these missteps have damaged the brand's image among some of the PC gaming community.
The result is a a much more uncertain outlook for PC users. According to the leaks, There will be fewer "guaranteed" ports of first-party single-player games.And some projects simply won't appear on Steam at all, or will only do so exceptionally and very late. However, the door wouldn't be completely closed: Sony would prefer to maintain some leeway to rectify the situation if the market changes or if they identify a clear opportunity in specific cases.
In parallel, the company would maintain a differentiated strategy according to the type of gameOn one hand, multiplayer and as-a-service experiences also launched on PC to generate recurring revenue and large communities; on the other hand, large single-player productions reserved for PS5 with the aim of reinforcing hardware sales and the perceived value of its ecosystem, especially in key markets such as Europe.
Viewed from the outside, the decision oscillates between economic logic, the fear of diluting the console's appeal, and the realization that the The PC market is complex and difficult to exploit sustainably.Sony hasn't failed on PC, but internal expectations seem to have been higher than the results of many sequels, and the initial momentum of the ports strategy has fizzled out over time.
All of this leaves PC gamers in a precarious situation: highly anticipated projects like Marvel's Wolverine, Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet or a hypothetical port of Gran Turismo 7, Demon's Souls, Astro Bot or Bloodborne They could stay, at least for now, locked in PS5While Sony decides whether this shift is permanent or just a strategic pause, the general feeling is one of greater uncertainty than ever regarding the future of PlayStation single-player games on PC.
