If they think I'm gonna buy Playstation to play some game, they are wrong. And by not bringing their games on PC they won't even get my money for the games themselves. I'm glad, they did at least...
If they think I'm gonna buy Playstation to play some game, they are wrong. And by not bringing their games on PC they won't even get my money for the games themselves.
I'm glad, they did at least some games! Both Horizons were great and I imagine others loved God of War or Last of Us.
They don’t think they’re going to convince you, presumably a fairly entrenched PC player, into getting a new console. They’re trying to convince the guy with a really old 2012 PC or a PS4 who’s...
They don’t think they’re going to convince you, presumably a fairly entrenched PC player, into getting a new console.
They’re trying to convince the guy with a really old 2012 PC or a PS4 who’s been hanging on but is looking to upgrade to get a PS5 instead of a PC.
Convincing that guy is way more valuable than getting a PC player to buy Ghosts of Yotei once. Sony is going to make 30% of every game that guy buys.
Hey, I'm the guy with 2012 PC :-D And on top of that, I also own PS1, PS2, PS3, PSP and PS Vita. And I like Dualshocks more than Xbox controllers and I advocate for them when I can. But Sony lost...
Hey, I'm the guy with 2012 PC :-D
And on top of that, I also own PS1, PS2, PS3, PSP and PS Vita. And I like Dualshocks more than Xbox controllers and I advocate for them when I can.
But Sony lost me at backwards compatibility, the lack of, to be precise. PS3 couldn't play PS2 games (only one specific skew could), PS4 couldn't play PS3 games (to my knowledge), thus I didn't bother buying one. And I won't buy PS5 because I can play quite a few great new games on my 2012 PC (with GTX1650), ie. Cyberpunk. And I switched to handheld gaming via PSP and others up to today's Steam Deck on which I finished both Horizons (Sony games).
I understand that porting the game is another cost on top of already probably very high budget. And that cost may not even end up paying for itself. They wouldn't shut it down if they were getting a lot of money from that (probably).
Still - many people would buy and play the games on PC. And I think most of those people won't buy PS5 to play them, they'd rather pass or wait for second hand console (which doesn't make Sony any money).
Seems kind of ironic to jump off at the PS4 -> PS5 transition, considering that's the one with backwards compatibility. Each individual release is almost certainly profitable, but the issue is the...
But Sony lost me at backwards compatibility, the lack of, to be precise.
Seems kind of ironic to jump off at the PS4 -> PS5 transition, considering that's the one with backwards compatibility.
I understand that porting the game is another cost on top of already probably very high budget. And that costay not evenend up paying for itself. They wpuldn't shut it down if they were getting a lot of money from that (probably).
Each individual release is almost certainly profitable, but the issue is the damage to the PS ecosystem. It's very profitable to be the owner of an ecosystem - you get 30% of EVERY digital sale of every game sold on the playstation store.
The more reasons there are to buy a PS5, the more people with a PS5, the more likely other people buy a PS5 (because, multiplayer). It's a highly lucrative and also recursive process.
Sony tested out how much the extra revenue from releasing the games on PC weighed against the damage to the PS ecosystem. Given their decision, it seems we know which is higher.
I didn't have PS4. Last one was PS3 and I passed PS4 because there was no backwards compatibility built in and I didn't want to have three consoles up to be able to play my games. Another reason...
Seems kind of ironic to jump off at the PS4 -> PS5 transition, considering that's the one with backwards compatibility.
I didn't have PS4. Last one was PS3 and I passed PS4 because there was no backwards compatibility built in and I didn't want to have three consoles up to be able to play my games. Another reason was that I already came back to PC gaming at the time.
I understand the reasons why they want to keep up their walled garden.
Agreed. I understand why they are doing this but it won't cause me to purchase a PlayStation. I'm glad I got to enjoy Returnal at least. Fantastic game that I would have never been able to enjoy...
Agreed. I understand why they are doing this but it won't cause me to purchase a PlayStation. I'm glad I got to enjoy Returnal at least. Fantastic game that I would have never been able to enjoy as I don't plan to buy a PS5. Time wins out. I'll be surprised if Sony isn't back to putting out games on PC in 5 years.
I don't think their priority is to convince new folks to get a Playstation. To me it sounds like they're trying to preserve the Playstation brand and keep their existing customers. PC sales...
I don't think their priority is to convince new folks to get a Playstation. To me it sounds like they're trying to preserve the Playstation brand and keep their existing customers.
PC sales haven't impressed them as the hype dies down during the 6 month wait and I bet some of the loyal Sony fans are also waiting for the PC release as that usually offers more especially to the hardcore fans (in technical sense, graphic settings etc.). Also the brands under Playstation have absolutely been struck by a little prestige hit when they aren't as exclusive. Why would you pay for PSN when PC is also an option and offers more?
They also probably woke up a bit after Xbox clusterfuck flirting with PC platform, that brand is basically dead and there's really not a reason to own one over PC. Maybe Sony also misanalysed Xbox's "play our games everywhere" strategy (as probably did Xbox as well, but they also had so many other problems).
As someone with a PS5 and a gaming PC, I held off on buying the PS version of Forbidden West because I knew the eventual PC port would be superior in every way. And that was confirmed the day I...
I'm glad, they did at least some games! Both Horizons were great and I imagine others loved God of War or Last of Us.
As someone with a PS5 and a gaming PC, I held off on buying the PS version of Forbidden West because I knew the eventual PC port would be superior in every way. And that was confirmed the day I bought it. Same for games like Days Gone, having the full range of graphical options and the ability to play on an upgraded graphics card, to me it's a no-brainer.
Makes sense when their competition is non-existent. They're going to monopolize their IPs on their own system. Not good for the consumer, especially so since their refund policy is ass.
Makes sense when their competition is non-existent. They're going to monopolize their IPs on their own system. Not good for the consumer, especially so since their refund policy is ass.
I suspect it has more to do with the fact that gaming PC's are about to become extinct with RAM prices becoming what they are. Consoles might be the ONLY way you get to game in the near future if...
I suspect it has more to do with the fact that gaming PC's are about to become extinct with RAM prices becoming what they are. Consoles might be the ONLY way you get to game in the near future if the AI bubble doesn't pop or fab production jumps through the roof.
Existing computers won't just pop out of existence? The potential market of people who play on PC remains huge, and it's not like consoles don't use RAM. They will jump in price just as all other...
Existing computers won't just pop out of existence? The potential market of people who play on PC remains huge, and it's not like consoles don't use RAM. They will jump in price just as all other hardware does.
RAM may not be available to consumers in the next 3 years. If that actually happens (low odds but on the table), the only way to get ANY gaming device could become consoles because the fabs aren't...
RAM may not be available to consumers in the next 3 years. If that actually happens (low odds but on the table), the only way to get ANY gaming device could become consoles because the fabs aren't selling to consumers.
This stuff will hit consumer hardware in more ways than just the sticks of RAM. It's likely we'll see price increases for the PlayStation too if things continue to rise. They're also subject to...
This stuff will hit consumer hardware in more ways than just the sticks of RAM. It's likely we'll see price increases for the PlayStation too if things continue to rise. They're also subject to these price fluctuations. In fact, Steam even mentioned something to that effect about their new GabeCube.
Home built PCs are going to be more expensive, but so will the consoles.
Consoles will be more expensive. I see an outcome where home built PCs will not be possible. Sony, as a large company who has the ability to deal with corporations on B2B level, can get the parts...
Consoles will be more expensive.
I see an outcome where home built PCs will not be possible.
Sony, as a large company who has the ability to deal with corporations on B2B level, can get the parts needed to build things.
Consumers, who do not have that option, may no longer have access to things like RAM, GPU's, and Hard Drives. That is the worst case scenario of this, and there's a very business oriented mind that would see that as a perfectly acceptable outcome.
In theory you'd expect competitors to enter the market to fill consumer demand at a lower price point, in practice some of these products are essentially supplied by cartel style oligopolies with extreme barriers. Capital, tech, and bureaucratic limitations make it very very hard to compete. We may very well enter a new norm where no one owns their personal computer and I don't see why people find that idea so strange given than "you'll own nothing and like it" has been the ongoing strategy for the last decade +
Edit:
To be clear these are the kinds of products where you can't just get together 10-20m in capital and start competing with a small workshop to serve your local market and expand from there. Moore's "law" finally ending means we're entering a chance for companies to set a new normal, and I think people don't understand how abnormal the current computer market is compared to most products, and how very much companies would be incentivized to change that (to the detriment of the consumer).
Extinct? Looking at the top 10 most played games on Steam, the majority require only 8 gigs of ram, with two wanting 12 and the single highest asking for 16. Even at current prices, 8 gigs of ram...
Extinct? Looking at the top 10 most played games on Steam, the majority require only 8 gigs of ram, with two wanting 12 and the single highest asking for 16. Even at current prices, 8 gigs of ram is 80 bucks. That's not an extinction level event.
Most of those games weren't developed and tested on computers with 8 gigs of ram. Their assets weren't made on computers with 8 gigs of ram. The development costs are going to go through the roof...
Most of those games weren't developed and tested on computers with 8 gigs of ram. Their assets weren't made on computers with 8 gigs of ram. The development costs are going to go through the roof if things stay on track, and yes as development continues there will be a real question of what IS a reasonable spec, and it's very possible 8 gigs ALSO winds up becoming unaffordable as fabs are dedicating more and more production to industry not consumer.
This is what I came to say. With XBox taking a nosedive and Nintendo never likely to publish off-console, I'm not surprised that both (Japanese) companies want to protect the console platform...
This is what I came to say. With XBox taking a nosedive and Nintendo never likely to publish off-console, I'm not surprised that both (Japanese) companies want to protect the console platform market while it's still here.
Not surprised, but still disappointed. As a PC gamer I would love to disagree, but I can’t. I think they’re right. I think that as long they provide a box that plays games, they’ll always have an...
Not surprised, but still disappointed.
A faction within PlayStation has also expressed concern that releasing their games on PC risks damaging the console’s brand and will hurt sales of the PlayStation 5 and its successors, according to the people familiar with Sony’s inner workings.
As a PC gamer I would love to disagree, but I can’t. I think they’re right.
I think that as long they provide a box that plays games, they’ll always have an audience. PC gaming is more convenient than ever, but it will never be as convenient as just going to a store, pick up a console that you know that will run any game that is advertised for it. No need to think, pick or choose. Just buy the box that plays the game.
But if we put that “casual” audience to the side, you have the audience that either doesn’t mind or prefers PC. For this group of people, I don’t believe that most would buy a PS5 if the game that they want already exists for PC. But I can see many buying the console just to play the exclusives. I should know, I was once like that.
All of this said, I would love to play Ghost of Yotei, but I don’t really want to get back into the practice of buying consoles because of the exclusives. I’ll play it if someday they backtrack or an emulator pops up
Another snag with just buying the box that plays the games is the likelihood that future boxes are going to be eye-wateringly expensive if they keep up the hardware arms race, thanks to the...
Another snag with just buying the box that plays the games is the likelihood that future boxes are going to be eye-wateringly expensive if they keep up the hardware arms race, thanks to the outrageous cost of RAM, storage, and GPU chips.
Same. I think they're completely right in doing this, as the Xbox has shown. I won't be buying it, I'm happy with my retro console and my PC. But as a survival decision for their console, I think...
Same. I think they're completely right in doing this, as the Xbox has shown. I won't be buying it, I'm happy with my retro console and my PC. But as a survival decision for their console, I think both Nintendo and Xbox have shown (in opposite ways) that exclusivity is still important.
I think this may be a bigger selling point than people think right now. I remember several major releases in the last few years had great reviews for consoles, but PC gaming was very hit or miss...
PC gaming is more convenient than ever, but it will never be as convenient as just going to a store, pick up a console that you know that will run any game that is advertised for it.
I think this may be a bigger selling point than people think right now. I remember several major releases in the last few years had great reviews for consoles, but PC gaming was very hit or miss due to the games being nearly unplayable for many people, even with high end gaming PCs. Part of it is how PC specs can vary so wildly so they can't test for every configuration, while consoles have hard-defined limits that the developers can actively work around. This is doubly true for games initially developed for consoles, as they'll be starting with a fairly high performance and have to find ways to optimize it to run on more PCs. Even with simultaneous releases, I feel like optimization for PC versions just isn't seen as big of a priority.
And with the expected upcoming shortage of RAM, it actually very well may be easier to buy a console and know the games for it will work, rather than struggle to find upgrades for gaming PCs and/or hope your current build is good enough for whatever game you're anticipating. It's a one-time purchase that can last for years of fairly consistent quality in performance.
Not having Saros on PC hurts. I loved Returnal and was hoping that the spiritual successor would come to PC at some point (maybe not day and date but still) I guess I’ll just have to run it on an...
Not having Saros on PC hurts. I loved Returnal and was hoping that the spiritual successor would come to PC at some point (maybe not day and date but still)
I guess I’ll just have to run it on an emulator in 10 years
Makes sense. I suspect there's a rude awakening coming to PC gaming. (And no, it's not RAM and SSD availability, which affect both.) Namely, it's increasingly likely that Microsoft won't produce...
Makes sense. I suspect there's a rude awakening coming to PC gaming. (And no, it's not RAM and SSD availability, which affect both.) Namely, it's increasingly likely that Microsoft won't produce another Xbox and will be looking for ways to focus on PC gaming. Which means additional control, forcing games to be sold through them so they can take a cut, etc.. They've already been dabbling with things like the ROG handhelds, and there have been few leaks or indicated partnerships for a next generation console, unlike the rumblings of PS6 design being underway.
With US and EU courts showing an unwillingness to go scorched earth on the phone app situation, even showing a preference for the centralized control of software distribution, they clearly don't have to fear antitrust measures anymore.
With that possibility on the table, handing an advantage to a hostile party would be foolish. (And PS5 is already the best gaming experience, hands down, anyway.)
I couldn't help but notice a distinct absence of Steam in your calculations. I suspect they might have more influence on the market than you appreciate. That is a bold statement that I don't think...
I couldn't help but notice a distinct absence of Steam in your calculations. I suspect they might have more influence on the market than you appreciate.
And PS5 is already the best gaming experience, hands down, anyway.
That is a bold statement that I don't think I've ever seen anyone claim before, certainly not so confidently. Would you care to expand?
Steam's influence is nil the minute Microsoft unilaterally redefines what is or isn't allowed on Windows. Given the recent legal takes on Google and Apple, there would likely be no regulatory...
Steam's influence is nil the minute Microsoft unilaterally redefines what is or isn't allowed on Windows. Given the recent legal takes on Google and Apple, there would likely be no regulatory pushback to them doing so. All they have to do is start requiring code signing and alter their licensing for the OS and libraries like DirectX.
I haven't used Windows since 2008. I'm squarely a Mac user, and I find the whole gaming PC idea extremely unattractive nowadays. You need a comparably expensive device that requires maintenance, dealing with unsavory operating systems, and sitting at a desk. My desk setup is for work and hobbies, in a bedroom for quiet. I'm not going to sit in there and play games when I could be in the living room, around people when I'm at home.
A PS5 is excellent hardware that requires no effort. You just turn it on and play games, and everything works. Every time. The controllers are stellar, the BSD-based OS is problem free, and buying and installing games is even smoother than Steam. I can play any game released for PS5 or PS4, and it's guaranteed to work without checking requirements and messing with settings. I grew up playing PC games and never owned a console, but it's now the obvious choice. I get paid well to build software at work...the last thing I want to do is tinker with someone else's jank software for free.
There are similar numbers of MAU for PS5 and Steam, so it's not exactly an unusual thought outside of the PC gamer echo chamber.
That's a statement and a half. I sold my PlayStation 5 in favour of gaming on my pc. Not to be dismissive, but if you haven't gamed on PC since 2008 you don't really know what the differences are...
That's a statement and a half. I sold my PlayStation 5 in favour of gaming on my pc.
Not to be dismissive, but if you haven't gamed on PC since 2008 you don't really know what the differences are nowadays. Steam and their ilk have very much made it smooth to buy and install games. I don't know what exactly you think the PS store does to make it smoother but simply navigating it with a controller is more friction than MKB with search functionality. Steam also provides unlimited bandwidth to download the games.
Regardless, I sold my PS because the store is expensive, the performance of the console overall is mediocre, the OS is locked down, a pending update will prevent me from gaming altogether, and while their controllers have impeccable haptics they've been skimping on their thumbsticks and introduced some newfangled stickdrift into their DualSense lineup.
Meanwhile, I have plenty of store options on my PC to shop for deals, bought a controller that I like with actually decent thumbsticks, am not beholden to the whims of Sony and their pricing for PS+, run games at a much higher fidelity, games have mod support, and just recently redid my thermal paste without voiding the warranty of my entire system. I also genuinely can't remember the last time a game didn't work out of the gate.
I don't want to start a console war in the comments, but I do want to push back at your unilateral statement that the PS5 offers the best gaming experience. I don't think it does.
What I'll say is that it's entirely dependent on your personal situation. People with a less powerful PC than I have may find it a more attractive value proposition than I do.
I was using Steam on a Mac up until Catalina, and have built gaming PCs for people fairly recently. When I say 2008, that's when I personally gave up Windows as a daily driver. I relied on dual...
I was using Steam on a Mac up until Catalina, and have built gaming PCs for people fairly recently. When I say 2008, that's when I personally gave up Windows as a daily driver. I relied on dual booting and such before the ARM transition.
It should be chronologically apparent that PS5s did not exist in 2008, and I have never owned a prior console.
I was completely on the anti-console side for most of my life, so there's nothing I haven't heard before. I even assumed that I was close to building a new one after I started working professionally as a software developer, but then I realized the PC gaming war was just blinding me to the fact that the non-tangible things that bothered me about PC gaming where mostly all things that consoles aimed to fix. It was a very major shift.
Don't get me wrong, I don't think you're wrong for preferring a console. The absolutist statement was a bit too much for me. A PS5 is likely hands down the best gaming method for you specifically...
Don't get me wrong, I don't think you're wrong for preferring a console. The absolutist statement was a bit too much for me. A PS5 is likely hands down the best gaming method for you specifically and that's ok.
It's the non tangible (and tangible) things about a console that bothered me to the point of getting rid of it. And I did own all the PlayStation generations, since the PS2 era even. In fact, I still own all of them and the PS5 is the only one I sold since I no longer see the value proposition in comparison to my PC and Steam Deck.
I think the comparison between PC and console gaming is very limiting in itself, because they are really very different experiences. When one compares them they automatically limit their view to a...
I think the comparison between PC and console gaming is very limiting in itself, because they are really very different experiences. When one compares them they automatically limit their view to a small subset of (mostly AAA) games that work on both.
But PC gaming comes with much more freedom to experience all kinds of games, e.g. PCs enable whole genres that you can't really find or play on consoles (most indie games, basebuilders, tycoon games, traditional roguelikes, etc.). Also modding, emulators, ports of games, fan games, etc. And keyboard and mouse controls are obviously very different from a controller, and feel much more convenient/natural for certain UI-heavy games or FPSs.
PC gaming also has a much more diverse ecosystem, just look at Steam, GOG, itch.io, etc.
It's not really comparable to consoles in that sense.
I feel like this chasm has been shrinking for a very long time and is no longer much more than a hop. Two of the major three consoles are glorified PCs and porting between them is relatively...
I feel like this chasm has been shrinking for a very long time and is no longer much more than a hop. Two of the major three consoles are glorified PCs and porting between them is relatively trivial. Even for the switch/2, it’s not that hard to port PC games to it because there are so many high level tools being used to make games, the vast majority of which are cross-platform. A while back I was working on a game engine which was using a relatively niche framework, and even that could have been ported rather trivially to consoles and even to cell phones.
Then on the other hand Valve has been making great leaps on making a console/PC hybrid platform with the Steam Deck, and their improvements on the software side has allowed any given PC to have that console experience regardless of if they choose Windows or Linux as the operating system running on it. Even Microsoft has tried to make a portable Xbox in the same vein via a partnership with Asus. When their new steam machine comes out it will clearly fill the same niche as an Xbox in spite of being “just another PC”.
I totally get what you mean about mouse and keyboard making a different experience but IIRC both Microsoft and Sony have allowed developers to use mouse and keyboards for quite some time - they just mandate controller support as first-class. I may be wrong about this though.
Yeah, I totally agree about Valves hardware, the Steamdeck is just a PC with Linux installed and the Gabecube is apparently also going to be completely open. Valve also makes it very easy to...
Yeah, I totally agree about Valves hardware, the Steamdeck is just a PC with Linux installed and the Gabecube is apparently also going to be completely open. Valve also makes it very easy to install other applications and launchers on the devices (well, even Windows), they don't lock their users in. They're basically selling preconfigured PCs.
But I feel for the Playstation and Switch the chasm is still pretty wide. You're right that it's become much easier for developers to port games, but the users are still completely dependent on what Sony/Nintendo allow on their platforms. Not long ago you couldn't even buy games from Sony when you lived in the 'wrong' country due to region-locking. There's no real ownership of the devices for users, you can't just install applications and mods, there's no way to make PC games work without dedicated ports, and the developers who port to the PS5 have to focus on controllers as input devices since the userbase isn't used to keyboard and mouse.
That's still very different from what you can do with a PC.
Just a nitpick, whatever maintenance you need for a PC is really the same maintenance you need for a Mac. If you haven't cleaned your fans in 4 years, please do that.
Just a nitpick, whatever maintenance you need for a PC is really the same maintenance you need for a Mac. If you haven't cleaned your fans in 4 years, please do that.
While Microsoft runs the PC event centre, I wouldn't be surprised if event planners Valve, Epic and manage to write their own rules. Microsoft has been pushing first party marketplaces, browsers...
While Microsoft runs the PC event centre, I wouldn't be surprised if event planners Valve, Epic and manage to write their own rules.
Microsoft has been pushing first party marketplaces, browsers and everything else for decades with little take-up, and even with their strongarm windows tactics, I'd be incredibly surprised if those tactics were pushy enough to make a dent in the digital distributor's efforts.
Notably absent from this whole conversation: Steam is aware that Microsoft controls the platform in a way. They have been aware since Games for Windows - LIVE was introduced that Microsoft really,...
Notably absent from this whole conversation: Steam is aware that Microsoft controls the platform in a way. They have been aware since Games for Windows - LIVE was introduced that Microsoft really, really wants in. While Microsoft hasn't been successful yet(shocker, I know), that could change. Hence, Steam started development on SteamOS. While SteamOS isn't a full-fledged operating system yet, Steam has said that the goal is to have it be a full OS and I'm sure Steam is plugging away at it. They see the potential threat on the horizon and are trying to address it at Valve's regular peculiar speed.
https://gameriv.com/ex-blizzard-boss-explains-why-sony-is-reportedly-pulling-back-from-pc-ports/ Mike shared an interesting opinion here, he says that Sony is actually wary of Valve because of the...
Mike shared an interesting opinion here, he says that Sony is actually wary of Valve because of the Steam Machine. They don't want to make games that will work on a potential new rival in the living room, which would make players stay in Valve's ecosystem instead of coming to Sony's.
Mike Ybarra was the president of Blizzrd and worked for many years at Xbox as Vice President. He might be onto something
This is the dumbest take. People want to play games, a majority don't care how. If you put your games everywhere you reach the widest audience. Who cares if it's on Steam or PS5? They shouldn't...
This is the dumbest take. People want to play games, a majority don't care how. If you put your games everywhere you reach the widest audience. Who cares if it's on Steam or PS5? They shouldn't worry about "their ecosystem" they should worry about how many people are playing their games. And they're losing a massive player base by doing this.
I think it makes sense. Your game might not reach as many people, but the ones who cross over will probably spend more elsewhere in your store - other games and subscriptions. Buy anything on...
I think it makes sense. Your game might not reach as many people, but the ones who cross over will probably spend more elsewhere in your store - other games and subscriptions.
Buy anything on Steam and 30% goes to Valve. Not Sony.
For better and worse, exclusives work. I'm with you that I would love to be able to play any game in any platform, but Sony doesn't care about that. Microsoft tried "play anywhere" and it arguably killed any reason to own an Xbox. Why get the box if the games show up on PC anyway?
Sony watched that play out and wants no part of it. Going PC means walking into Valve and Microsoft's backyard, fighting people who've been dug in there for decades. Their edge is the platform. The moment they need someone else's ecosystem to reach players, they would become a publisher instead of a platform.
Every exclusive that ports to PC trains people to wait instead of buying the console. Meanwhile, Nintendo keeps selling hardware with ease partly because their games straight up don't exist anywhere else. Sony knows this, and they'd rather be Nintendo than Sega
The games are a means to an end. The real money is in the fees you reap from the ecosystem. That's both the digital store fee as well as the licensing fee on physical games. Being a games...
The games are a means to an end. The real money is in the fees you reap from the ecosystem. That's both the digital store fee as well as the licensing fee on physical games. Being a games publisher is honestly a pretty shitty business - being an ecosystem owner is an awesome business.
It's still a dumb take, but for the reason that Sony would take the steam machine that seriously as a threat when it seems it's not even going to launch this year, and would do so horribly out of market price. Valve seems content with the steam machine being a niche machine, even more niche than the steam deck. It's hardly changing any behavior at Sony.
Glad I got the Kingdom Hearts games while I could (ok except that newer rhythm one I don't care about). That was one of the most expensive gaming purchases I've made too. Guess I'll be bailing...
Glad I got the Kingdom Hearts games while I could (ok except that newer rhythm one I don't care about). That was one of the most expensive gaming purchases I've made too. Guess I'll be bailing from the franchise. Apparently there's an emerging "hearts like" genre if this one YT dev making one is to be believed.
I don't think that's the case, at least on the developer end. Sony was tight enough with Valve to provide pre release versions of God of War to fast track deck verification....
I don't think that's the case, at least on the developer end. Sony was tight enough with Valve to provide pre release versions of God of War to fast track deck verification.
If they think I'm gonna buy Playstation to play some game, they are wrong. And by not bringing their games on PC they won't even get my money for the games themselves.
I'm glad, they did at least some games! Both Horizons were great and I imagine others loved God of War or Last of Us.
They don’t think they’re going to convince you, presumably a fairly entrenched PC player, into getting a new console.
They’re trying to convince the guy with a really old 2012 PC or a PS4 who’s been hanging on but is looking to upgrade to get a PS5 instead of a PC.
Convincing that guy is way more valuable than getting a PC player to buy Ghosts of Yotei once. Sony is going to make 30% of every game that guy buys.
Hey, I'm the guy with 2012 PC :-D
And on top of that, I also own PS1, PS2, PS3, PSP and PS Vita. And I like Dualshocks more than Xbox controllers and I advocate for them when I can.
But Sony lost me at backwards compatibility, the lack of, to be precise. PS3 couldn't play PS2 games (only one specific skew could), PS4 couldn't play PS3 games (to my knowledge), thus I didn't bother buying one. And I won't buy PS5 because I can play quite a few great new games on my 2012 PC (with GTX1650), ie. Cyberpunk. And I switched to handheld gaming via PSP and others up to today's Steam Deck on which I finished both Horizons (Sony games).
I understand that porting the game is another cost on top of already probably very high budget. And that cost may not even end up paying for itself. They wouldn't shut it down if they were getting a lot of money from that (probably).
Still - many people would buy and play the games on PC. And I think most of those people won't buy PS5 to play them, they'd rather pass or wait for second hand console (which doesn't make Sony any money).
EDIT: spelling
Seems kind of ironic to jump off at the PS4 -> PS5 transition, considering that's the one with backwards compatibility.
Each individual release is almost certainly profitable, but the issue is the damage to the PS ecosystem. It's very profitable to be the owner of an ecosystem - you get 30% of EVERY digital sale of every game sold on the playstation store.
The more reasons there are to buy a PS5, the more people with a PS5, the more likely other people buy a PS5 (because, multiplayer). It's a highly lucrative and also recursive process.
Sony tested out how much the extra revenue from releasing the games on PC weighed against the damage to the PS ecosystem. Given their decision, it seems we know which is higher.
I didn't have PS4. Last one was PS3 and I passed PS4 because there was no backwards compatibility built in and I didn't want to have three consoles up to be able to play my games. Another reason was that I already came back to PC gaming at the time.
I understand the reasons why they want to keep up their walled garden.
(SKU, stockkeeping unit)
Heh, I’ve been using that word for years but never knew what it was abbreviating. The more you know 🌠
Agreed. I understand why they are doing this but it won't cause me to purchase a PlayStation. I'm glad I got to enjoy Returnal at least. Fantastic game that I would have never been able to enjoy as I don't plan to buy a PS5. Time wins out. I'll be surprised if Sony isn't back to putting out games on PC in 5 years.
I don't think their priority is to convince new folks to get a Playstation. To me it sounds like they're trying to preserve the Playstation brand and keep their existing customers.
PC sales haven't impressed them as the hype dies down during the 6 month wait and I bet some of the loyal Sony fans are also waiting for the PC release as that usually offers more especially to the hardcore fans (in technical sense, graphic settings etc.). Also the brands under Playstation have absolutely been struck by a little prestige hit when they aren't as exclusive. Why would you pay for PSN when PC is also an option and offers more?
They also probably woke up a bit after Xbox clusterfuck flirting with PC platform, that brand is basically dead and there's really not a reason to own one over PC. Maybe Sony also misanalysed Xbox's "play our games everywhere" strategy (as probably did Xbox as well, but they also had so many other problems).
As someone with a PS5 and a gaming PC, I held off on buying the PS version of Forbidden West because I knew the eventual PC port would be superior in every way. And that was confirmed the day I bought it. Same for games like Days Gone, having the full range of graphical options and the ability to play on an upgraded graphics card, to me it's a no-brainer.
This is sad news.
Makes sense when their competition is non-existent. They're going to monopolize their IPs on their own system. Not good for the consumer, especially so since their refund policy is ass.
I suspect it has more to do with the fact that gaming PC's are about to become extinct with RAM prices becoming what they are. Consoles might be the ONLY way you get to game in the near future if the AI bubble doesn't pop or fab production jumps through the roof.
Existing computers won't just pop out of existence? The potential market of people who play on PC remains huge, and it's not like consoles don't use RAM. They will jump in price just as all other hardware does.
RAM may not be available to consumers in the next 3 years. If that actually happens (low odds but on the table), the only way to get ANY gaming device could become consoles because the fabs aren't selling to consumers.
This stuff will hit consumer hardware in more ways than just the sticks of RAM. It's likely we'll see price increases for the PlayStation too if things continue to rise. They're also subject to these price fluctuations. In fact, Steam even mentioned something to that effect about their new GabeCube.
Home built PCs are going to be more expensive, but so will the consoles.
Consoles will be more expensive.
I see an outcome where home built PCs will not be possible.
Sony, as a large company who has the ability to deal with corporations on B2B level, can get the parts needed to build things.
Consumers, who do not have that option, may no longer have access to things like RAM, GPU's, and Hard Drives. That is the worst case scenario of this, and there's a very business oriented mind that would see that as a perfectly acceptable outcome.
In theory you'd expect competitors to enter the market to fill consumer demand at a lower price point, in practice some of these products are essentially supplied by cartel style oligopolies with extreme barriers. Capital, tech, and bureaucratic limitations make it very very hard to compete. We may very well enter a new norm where no one owns their personal computer and I don't see why people find that idea so strange given than "you'll own nothing and like it" has been the ongoing strategy for the last decade +
Edit:
To be clear these are the kinds of products where you can't just get together 10-20m in capital and start competing with a small workshop to serve your local market and expand from there. Moore's "law" finally ending means we're entering a chance for companies to set a new normal, and I think people don't understand how abnormal the current computer market is compared to most products, and how very much companies would be incentivized to change that (to the detriment of the consumer).
Extinct? Looking at the top 10 most played games on Steam, the majority require only 8 gigs of ram, with two wanting 12 and the single highest asking for 16. Even at current prices, 8 gigs of ram is 80 bucks. That's not an extinction level event.
Most of those games weren't developed and tested on computers with 8 gigs of ram. Their assets weren't made on computers with 8 gigs of ram. The development costs are going to go through the roof if things stay on track, and yes as development continues there will be a real question of what IS a reasonable spec, and it's very possible 8 gigs ALSO winds up becoming unaffordable as fabs are dedicating more and more production to industry not consumer.
This is what I came to say. With XBox taking a nosedive and Nintendo never likely to publish off-console, I'm not surprised that both (Japanese) companies want to protect the console platform market while it's still here.
Gift article from the author:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-03-04/sony-pulls-back-from-playstation-games-on-pc?accessToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJzb3VyY2UiOiJTdWJzY3JpYmVyR2lmdGVkQXJ0aWNsZSIsImlhdCI6MTc3MjYzMTM4OSwiZXhwIjoxNzczMjM2MTg5LCJhcnRpY2xlSWQiOiJUQkRNVTVLR1pBS0owMCIsImJjb25uZWN0SWQiOiJCMUVBQkI5NjQ2QUM0REZFQTJBRkI4MjI1MzgyQTJFQSJ9.iJ25MhKjr88ECoSb_2cT3JX9MqYduN3JmMm63yusBVE
This is the first horizontal scrollbar I've seen in awhile.
Not surprised, but still disappointed.
As a PC gamer I would love to disagree, but I can’t. I think they’re right.
I think that as long they provide a box that plays games, they’ll always have an audience. PC gaming is more convenient than ever, but it will never be as convenient as just going to a store, pick up a console that you know that will run any game that is advertised for it. No need to think, pick or choose. Just buy the box that plays the game.
But if we put that “casual” audience to the side, you have the audience that either doesn’t mind or prefers PC. For this group of people, I don’t believe that most would buy a PS5 if the game that they want already exists for PC. But I can see many buying the console just to play the exclusives. I should know, I was once like that.
All of this said, I would love to play Ghost of Yotei, but I don’t really want to get back into the practice of buying consoles because of the exclusives. I’ll play it if someday they backtrack or an emulator pops up
Another snag with just buying the box that plays the games is the likelihood that future boxes are going to be eye-wateringly expensive if they keep up the hardware arms race, thanks to the outrageous cost of RAM, storage, and GPU chips.
Same. I think they're completely right in doing this, as the Xbox has shown. I won't be buying it, I'm happy with my retro console and my PC. But as a survival decision for their console, I think both Nintendo and Xbox have shown (in opposite ways) that exclusivity is still important.
I think this may be a bigger selling point than people think right now. I remember several major releases in the last few years had great reviews for consoles, but PC gaming was very hit or miss due to the games being nearly unplayable for many people, even with high end gaming PCs. Part of it is how PC specs can vary so wildly so they can't test for every configuration, while consoles have hard-defined limits that the developers can actively work around. This is doubly true for games initially developed for consoles, as they'll be starting with a fairly high performance and have to find ways to optimize it to run on more PCs. Even with simultaneous releases, I feel like optimization for PC versions just isn't seen as big of a priority.
And with the expected upcoming shortage of RAM, it actually very well may be easier to buy a console and know the games for it will work, rather than struggle to find upgrades for gaming PCs and/or hope your current build is good enough for whatever game you're anticipating. It's a one-time purchase that can last for years of fairly consistent quality in performance.
Not having Saros on PC hurts. I loved Returnal and was hoping that the spiritual successor would come to PC at some point (maybe not day and date but still)
I guess I’ll just have to run it on an emulator in 10 years
Makes sense. I suspect there's a rude awakening coming to PC gaming. (And no, it's not RAM and SSD availability, which affect both.) Namely, it's increasingly likely that Microsoft won't produce another Xbox and will be looking for ways to focus on PC gaming. Which means additional control, forcing games to be sold through them so they can take a cut, etc.. They've already been dabbling with things like the ROG handhelds, and there have been few leaks or indicated partnerships for a next generation console, unlike the rumblings of PS6 design being underway.
With US and EU courts showing an unwillingness to go scorched earth on the phone app situation, even showing a preference for the centralized control of software distribution, they clearly don't have to fear antitrust measures anymore.
With that possibility on the table, handing an advantage to a hostile party would be foolish. (And PS5 is already the best gaming experience, hands down, anyway.)
I couldn't help but notice a distinct absence of Steam in your calculations. I suspect they might have more influence on the market than you appreciate.
That is a bold statement that I don't think I've ever seen anyone claim before, certainly not so confidently. Would you care to expand?
Steam's influence is nil the minute Microsoft unilaterally redefines what is or isn't allowed on Windows. Given the recent legal takes on Google and Apple, there would likely be no regulatory pushback to them doing so. All they have to do is start requiring code signing and alter their licensing for the OS and libraries like DirectX.
I haven't used Windows since 2008. I'm squarely a Mac user, and I find the whole gaming PC idea extremely unattractive nowadays. You need a comparably expensive device that requires maintenance, dealing with unsavory operating systems, and sitting at a desk. My desk setup is for work and hobbies, in a bedroom for quiet. I'm not going to sit in there and play games when I could be in the living room, around people when I'm at home.
A PS5 is excellent hardware that requires no effort. You just turn it on and play games, and everything works. Every time. The controllers are stellar, the BSD-based OS is problem free, and buying and installing games is even smoother than Steam. I can play any game released for PS5 or PS4, and it's guaranteed to work without checking requirements and messing with settings. I grew up playing PC games and never owned a console, but it's now the obvious choice. I get paid well to build software at work...the last thing I want to do is tinker with someone else's jank software for free.
There are similar numbers of MAU for PS5 and Steam, so it's not exactly an unusual thought outside of the PC gamer echo chamber.
That's a statement and a half. I sold my PlayStation 5 in favour of gaming on my pc.
Not to be dismissive, but if you haven't gamed on PC since 2008 you don't really know what the differences are nowadays. Steam and their ilk have very much made it smooth to buy and install games. I don't know what exactly you think the PS store does to make it smoother but simply navigating it with a controller is more friction than MKB with search functionality. Steam also provides unlimited bandwidth to download the games.
Regardless, I sold my PS because the store is expensive, the performance of the console overall is mediocre, the OS is locked down, a pending update will prevent me from gaming altogether, and while their controllers have impeccable haptics they've been skimping on their thumbsticks and introduced some newfangled stickdrift into their DualSense lineup.
Meanwhile, I have plenty of store options on my PC to shop for deals, bought a controller that I like with actually decent thumbsticks, am not beholden to the whims of Sony and their pricing for PS+, run games at a much higher fidelity, games have mod support, and just recently redid my thermal paste without voiding the warranty of my entire system. I also genuinely can't remember the last time a game didn't work out of the gate.
I don't want to start a console war in the comments, but I do want to push back at your unilateral statement that the PS5 offers the best gaming experience. I don't think it does.
What I'll say is that it's entirely dependent on your personal situation. People with a less powerful PC than I have may find it a more attractive value proposition than I do.
I was using Steam on a Mac up until Catalina, and have built gaming PCs for people fairly recently. When I say 2008, that's when I personally gave up Windows as a daily driver. I relied on dual booting and such before the ARM transition.
It should be chronologically apparent that PS5s did not exist in 2008, and I have never owned a prior console.
I was completely on the anti-console side for most of my life, so there's nothing I haven't heard before. I even assumed that I was close to building a new one after I started working professionally as a software developer, but then I realized the PC gaming war was just blinding me to the fact that the non-tangible things that bothered me about PC gaming where mostly all things that consoles aimed to fix. It was a very major shift.
Don't get me wrong, I don't think you're wrong for preferring a console. The absolutist statement was a bit too much for me. A PS5 is likely hands down the best gaming method for you specifically and that's ok.
It's the non tangible (and tangible) things about a console that bothered me to the point of getting rid of it. And I did own all the PlayStation generations, since the PS2 era even. In fact, I still own all of them and the PS5 is the only one I sold since I no longer see the value proposition in comparison to my PC and Steam Deck.
I think the comparison between PC and console gaming is very limiting in itself, because they are really very different experiences. When one compares them they automatically limit their view to a small subset of (mostly AAA) games that work on both.
But PC gaming comes with much more freedom to experience all kinds of games, e.g. PCs enable whole genres that you can't really find or play on consoles (most indie games, basebuilders, tycoon games, traditional roguelikes, etc.). Also modding, emulators, ports of games, fan games, etc. And keyboard and mouse controls are obviously very different from a controller, and feel much more convenient/natural for certain UI-heavy games or FPSs.
PC gaming also has a much more diverse ecosystem, just look at Steam, GOG, itch.io, etc.
It's not really comparable to consoles in that sense.
e: wording
I feel like this chasm has been shrinking for a very long time and is no longer much more than a hop. Two of the major three consoles are glorified PCs and porting between them is relatively trivial. Even for the switch/2, it’s not that hard to port PC games to it because there are so many high level tools being used to make games, the vast majority of which are cross-platform. A while back I was working on a game engine which was using a relatively niche framework, and even that could have been ported rather trivially to consoles and even to cell phones.
Then on the other hand Valve has been making great leaps on making a console/PC hybrid platform with the Steam Deck, and their improvements on the software side has allowed any given PC to have that console experience regardless of if they choose Windows or Linux as the operating system running on it. Even Microsoft has tried to make a portable Xbox in the same vein via a partnership with Asus. When their new steam machine comes out it will clearly fill the same niche as an Xbox in spite of being “just another PC”.
I totally get what you mean about mouse and keyboard making a different experience but IIRC both Microsoft and Sony have allowed developers to use mouse and keyboards for quite some time - they just mandate controller support as first-class. I may be wrong about this though.
Yeah, I totally agree about Valves hardware, the Steamdeck is just a PC with Linux installed and the Gabecube is apparently also going to be completely open. Valve also makes it very easy to install other applications and launchers on the devices (well, even Windows), they don't lock their users in. They're basically selling preconfigured PCs.
But I feel for the Playstation and Switch the chasm is still pretty wide. You're right that it's become much easier for developers to port games, but the users are still completely dependent on what Sony/Nintendo allow on their platforms. Not long ago you couldn't even buy games from Sony when you lived in the 'wrong' country due to region-locking. There's no real ownership of the devices for users, you can't just install applications and mods, there's no way to make PC games work without dedicated ports, and the developers who port to the PS5 have to focus on controllers as input devices since the userbase isn't used to keyboard and mouse.
That's still very different from what you can do with a PC.
Just a nitpick, whatever maintenance you need for a PC is really the same maintenance you need for a Mac. If you haven't cleaned your fans in 4 years, please do that.
While Microsoft runs the PC event centre, I wouldn't be surprised if event planners Valve, Epic and manage to write their own rules.
Microsoft has been pushing first party marketplaces, browsers and everything else for decades with little take-up, and even with their strongarm windows tactics, I'd be incredibly surprised if those tactics were pushy enough to make a dent in the digital distributor's efforts.
Notably absent from this whole conversation: Steam is aware that Microsoft controls the platform in a way. They have been aware since Games for Windows - LIVE was introduced that Microsoft really, really wants in. While Microsoft hasn't been successful yet(shocker, I know), that could change. Hence, Steam started development on SteamOS. While SteamOS isn't a full-fledged operating system yet, Steam has said that the goal is to have it be a full OS and I'm sure Steam is plugging away at it. They see the potential threat on the horizon and are trying to address it at Valve's regular peculiar speed.
How is SteamOS not a full fledged operating system? It does everything any other operating system does….
The speed of my toddler whimsically making her way to the dinner table.
Noooooo I was really looking forward to Ghost of Yotei :(
I was looking forward to playing Astro Bot without having to buy a PS5, alas.
https://gameriv.com/ex-blizzard-boss-explains-why-sony-is-reportedly-pulling-back-from-pc-ports/
Mike shared an interesting opinion here, he says that Sony is actually wary of Valve because of the Steam Machine. They don't want to make games that will work on a potential new rival in the living room, which would make players stay in Valve's ecosystem instead of coming to Sony's.
Mike Ybarra was the president of Blizzrd and worked for many years at Xbox as Vice President. He might be onto something
This is the dumbest take. People want to play games, a majority don't care how. If you put your games everywhere you reach the widest audience. Who cares if it's on Steam or PS5? They shouldn't worry about "their ecosystem" they should worry about how many people are playing their games. And they're losing a massive player base by doing this.
I think it makes sense. Your game might not reach as many people, but the ones who cross over will probably spend more elsewhere in your store - other games and subscriptions.
Buy anything on Steam and 30% goes to Valve. Not Sony.
For better and worse, exclusives work. I'm with you that I would love to be able to play any game in any platform, but Sony doesn't care about that. Microsoft tried "play anywhere" and it arguably killed any reason to own an Xbox. Why get the box if the games show up on PC anyway?
Sony watched that play out and wants no part of it. Going PC means walking into Valve and Microsoft's backyard, fighting people who've been dug in there for decades. Their edge is the platform. The moment they need someone else's ecosystem to reach players, they would become a publisher instead of a platform.
Every exclusive that ports to PC trains people to wait instead of buying the console. Meanwhile, Nintendo keeps selling hardware with ease partly because their games straight up don't exist anywhere else. Sony knows this, and they'd rather be Nintendo than Sega
The games are a means to an end. The real money is in the fees you reap from the ecosystem. That's both the digital store fee as well as the licensing fee on physical games. Being a games publisher is honestly a pretty shitty business - being an ecosystem owner is an awesome business.
It's still a dumb take, but for the reason that Sony would take the steam machine that seriously as a threat when it seems it's not even going to launch this year, and would do so horribly out of market price. Valve seems content with the steam machine being a niche machine, even more niche than the steam deck. It's hardly changing any behavior at Sony.
Glad I got the Kingdom Hearts games while I could (ok except that newer rhythm one I don't care about). That was one of the most expensive gaming purchases I've made too. Guess I'll be bailing from the franchise. Apparently there's an emerging "hearts like" genre if this one YT dev making one is to be believed.
I think it's in response to the Steam Machine
I don't think that's the case, at least on the developer end. Sony was tight enough with Valve to provide pre release versions of God of War to fast track deck verification.
https://nitter.net/yosp/status/1484010884292698116
If the next Xbox was Windows powered and could run alternate storefronts though, the math might be different on allowing PlayStation games on an Xbox.