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[Bloomberg] Sony Pulls Back From PlayStation Games on PC (Ghost of Yotei port and other internally developerd games scrapped)

I honestly feel like not much is lost as a PC only gamer.

First Sony released Horizon Zero Dawn, PC gamers flocked to buy this lacklustre ubi-clone and quickly wised up as shown by the disappointing sales on the platform. I think there was 1 or 2 single player Sony games that managed to outsell Veilguard on Steam in the end. Sony couldn't charge these high prices for these old games that were above average at best. The only way they could have had a chance of success would have been day one releases, but they protected their own platform and half-assed it.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed God of War, Uncharted 4 and The Last of Us which are good 7/10 games. I have respect for Death Stranding as an experimental game but it was not for me. The only game I found exceptionally good was Returnal. And I guess I will not play any more Housemarque games which is a shame, but we already have more great games available to us than time.

At the end of the day the best AAA games are multi-plats. There was no CDPR, Warhorse, Larian, FROM or Rockstar level studio hiding in Sony's closet. What they had to offer generally was the gaming equivalent to Marvel movies and life will go on without them.
 
lol Nixxes just tweeted this and the comments are all acting like this is their funeral.



I hope Sony doesnt get rid of them. They would make for a very good support studio getting games over the finish line. But after BP, cant trust Sony nowadays to do the right thing.
 
nial said:
Sure Jan GIF

This thread is FULL of meltdowns.
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That's 0.0000000001% of the PC gaming market. Being generous here.
 
I enjoyed Uncharted 4, it was nice to finally get to play that :].

For me the coolest Sony games since Bloodborne by far have been the Death Stranding games. If they'd locked those up as permanent exclusives, this'd be a very different conversation imo.
 
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asdasdasdbb said:
I do think some choose consoles in general is the simplicity. Adding a console like mode to Windows is a logical step pulling away from hardware. It's not just Magnus, it's Dell, Lenovo, HP... selling gaming machines with XBoxPC mode by default that should have Sony worried. Especially with Free MP.
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I'm not sure adding big picture mode to the PC is the draw to simplicity seeking console gamers that you think it is.

Rather, the audiences have different desires and different tastes. Sony seems to have recognized this. They aren't leaving a ton of money on the table by keeping SP games on Playstation for longer. There is no vast pool of money for them to collect, so it isn't worth it anymore. That money was never there. It never materialized because it wasn't there.

The behavior of the PC gamer is different than that of the console gamer. There is not as much overlap as one would think. It is a mirage.

I speak as one who has walked both paths. Truly understood them. I've been two different people and lived two different lives. One as a console gamer and one as a PC gamer. This is after my upbringing in classical gaming. My adult years have been split. One as a RE4 gamecube merc sweat playing in moms basement and one as a guild officer class lead in WoW for almost a decade. I am not the same. I have seen the others and I've seen their mothers and I know this fight is not worth fighting.

PC people in general are just as isolated as the console gaming populace. You have to find the smarts in the communities to have real discussions about gaming beyond the game you are playing. This holds true across platforms. Most people, PC and console are ignorant, but also these are not the same people. They never will be. Business decisions that target them as if they were fungible will always fail.
 
SlimySnake said:
I hope Sony doesnt get rid of them. They would make for a very good support studio getting games over the finish line. But after BP, cant trust Sony nowadays to do the right thing.
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I imagine they can still provide support with the PC version of their live service games and other projects.

Or hey, since it's Sony maybe they can convince them to let them spend the next 5 years working on a Spiderman live service game where you play as MJ and Miles' deaf girlfriend
 
HeisenbergFX4 said:
The PC audience would like ports that aren't trash as well
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There were many games on PC that sold very well, but the PC version was subpar. The reality is that PS games just didn't sell well on PC.

Edit: Changed "but the ports were subpar" to "but the PC version was subpar"
 
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uncreativename said:
I enjoyed Uncharted 4, it was nice to finally get to play that :].

For me the coolest Sony games since Bloodborne by far have been the Death Stranding games. If they'd locked those up as permanent exclusives, this'd be a very different conversation imo.
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It was weird they never released the other games. I never understood just releasing #4.
 
Alex Scott said:
There were many games that sold very well, but the ports were subpar. The reality is that PS games just didn't sell well on PC.
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That is a good point too. Look at Jedi Survivor. A $70, very console-ish action-adventure with an abysmal PC port, one of the worst of all time. And yet it was one of Steam's best-sellers that year iirc.
 
bender said:
+PC releases launched $10 less expensive than their PS5 launch prices which is also a nice middle finger to their console base.

I think your bolded was poorly thought out on Sony part but also overblown by the PC audience and used as an alternative excuse to "we don't want additional accounts" (a fair stance mind you). And if I had to guess, the blowback from PSN/Helldivers 2 is probably a reason they are pulling back from this initiative. If they can't get PC users to use PSN features on a massively popular online game, them to do so on single player games and there is value to Sony in those accounts being used.

Sony giving any excuse to skip their platform in the first place was extremely short sided. We are probably talking about way less than 10% of their population that would make the choice, but digital libraries are what will decide what platforms a user invests in (one thing Phil Spencer said that is 100% on point). So even if your bleed is small because of offering titles on other platforms, with the nature of backwards compatibility and digital libraries, there will no longer be reset points on hardware so earning those users back once they've gone somewhere else is almost entirely unlikely. And with how social games are, once someone has migrated outside of your ecosystem, those migrated users will try to drag their friend groups with them.
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Also, Sony gave Steam free advertisement, especially with HD2. Every PS game they ported was literally free advertising for Steam at the expense of their own platform.
 
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asdasdasdbb said:
I do think some choose consoles in general is the simplicity. Adding a console like mode to Windows is a logical step pulling away from hardware. It's not just Magnus, it's Dell, Lenovo, HP... selling gaming machines with XBoxPC mode by default that should have Sony worried. Especially with Free MP.
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So like the steam machines that tried this in the past. That didn't have PlayStation or Nintendo worried. The Xbox Ally didn't worry Nintendo either despite having a "console like" mode because itbwas bloody expensive. They're not scared of the struggling xbox brand.

They just see very little reason to port to PC anymore. It didn't help that a lot of so called PC players are now closet xbox exiles that kicked up a negative shitstorm about anything and everything they did or released.
 
CowboyLou said:
That is a good point too. Look at Jedi Survivor. A $70, very console-ish action-adventure with an abysmal PC port, one of the worst of all time. And yet it was one of Steam's best-sellers that year iirc.
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Because it was a brand new game full of hype and not a full priced port of an old game.
 
I feel like some people are ignoring the fact that some PC players... also own a PS5. The ones who got a PS5 usually don't wait for the PC port and when it comes out they just don't double dip. I feel it was the same thing for PS4, when all those games started to get ported they didn't sell that well because PC players who were interested in playing them already did on their PS4s.
 
I'll only miss Soros. Was looking forward to playing that.

Got bored of GT7 so sold the PS5 to a mate who wanted to play Arc Raiders just last week.

Guess ill have to get a 6 now if they have a decent line up.
 
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Gaiff said:
Spider-Man 2 is a bad game with a bad port. The real story is it selling so well on PlayStation.
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I'd say it is a good game with a subpar story and really shitty side quests. It got great review scores so not really a surprise that it sold well. Plus, it's Spider-man. Clearly that isn't as big a draw on PC.
 
Snowdonhoffen said:
I feel like some people are ignoring the fact that some PC players... also own a PS5. The ones who got a PS5 usually don't wait for the PC port and when it comes out they just don't double dip. I feel it was the same thing for PS4, when all those games started to get ported they didn't sell that well because PC players who were interested in playing them already did on their PS4s.
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I spent the last 6 months here reading PS6 will be worthless because "I can play Sony games on PC/Magnus/SteamDeck/Steam Machine"

After this news, suddenly nobody needs Sony games on PC

Seems like straight coping to me
 
Topher said:
I'd say it is a good game with a subpar story and really shitty side quests. It got great review scores so not really a surprise that it sold well. Plus, it's Spider-man. Clearly that isn't as big a draw on PC.
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I guess all these comic book nerds aren't on PC as they pretend to be. Niche-Man, indeed.
 
Topher said:
I'd say it is a good game with a subpar story and really shitty side quests. It got great review scores so not really a surprise that it sold well. Plus, it's Spider-man. Clearly that isn't as big a draw on PC.
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What makes it so much better than the usually maligned Ubisoft games? The swinging mechanics are neat, but besides that, it has the exact same problems as most open world games. Climb tower, reveal maps, bunch of collectibles, stop crime in progress, etc, and an overall repetitive and unengaging gameplay loop. The combat doesn't have enough depth of variety to save it.
 
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Topher said:
I'd say it is a good game with a subpar story and really shitty side quests. It got great review scores so not really a surprise that it sold well. Plus, it's Spider-man. Clearly that isn't as big a draw on PC.
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I enjoyed the first one more. I bounced off 2 super quick. Not my genre though but I do love me some Spiderman.

The Rocksteady Batman games were better than both though.
 
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Gaiff said:
What makes it so much better than the usually maligned Ubisoft games? The swinging mechanics are neat, but besides that, it has the exact same problems as most open world games. Climb tower, reveal maps, bunch of collectibles, stop crime in progress, etc, and an overall repetitive and unengaging gameplay loop. The combat doesn't have enough depth of variety to save it.
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I don't have a problem with Ubisoft or open world games. It borrowed more from Batman than anything else really which I also liked quite a bit.

clarky said:
I enjoyed the first one more. I bounced off 2 super quick. Not my genre though but I do love me some Spiderman.

The Rocksteady Batman games where better than both though.
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Rocksteady is clearly what they were trying to replicate. They did a good job, but Arkham is a much better setting. I definitely prefer Batman, but I like both.

Spider-man's story isn't nearly as good. God we need more Batman
 
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Topher said:
I don't have a problem with Ubisoft or open world games. It borrowed more from Batman than anything else really which I also liked quite a bit.



Rocksteady is clearly what they were trying to replicate. They did a good job, but Arkham is a much better setting. I definitely prefer Batman, but I like both.

Spider-man's story isn't nearly as good. God we need more Batman
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This 100%. When I played the first Spiderman game I put it down quickly because I had just played and beaten Arkham Asylum not to long before that. I eventually went back to it but it was so similar I just wasn't in the mood for the same gameplay. Other than Asylum though I think they've done better with Spiderman. I could never get into City for some reason. It just didn't work as well.
 
Skifi28 said:
It has an overall meh story and bad writting, but the gameplay and traversal are darn good. Minus the stealth segments I suppose.
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Can't say I agree with the gameplay being great. The traversal is fun, but besides gliding, I don't recall what they added that the first one did not. The combat is average as average gets and the missions and side content don't do anything either. The Batman Arkham games were released over a decade before and do everything better except for traversal.
 
Cool. I'll borrow my son's PS5 to play the next Horizon game. Otherwise nothing is lost. At $700+ per console the days of owning every console are over. I'll stick to my PC and Switch 2.
 
BacklashWave534 said:
Cool. I'll borrow my son's PS5 to play the next Horizon game. Otherwise nothing is lost. At $700+ per console the days of owning every console are over. I'll stick to my PC and Switch 2.
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Hope you and the other 4 people playing Hunters Gathering have a great time.
 
Alex Scott said:
There were many games that sold very well, but the PC version was subpar. The reality is that PS games just didn't sell well on PC.

Edit: Changed "but the ports were subpar" to "but the PC version was subpar"
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I thought Returnal was great on PC. In fact, I preferred it there. Other games were better on the PS5 due to issues. All in all I don't think much is lost here on either side if Sony pulls back. As a PC gamer primarily there is so much choice and quality that Sony isn't really bringing anything better to the table just more of the same. If I really want to play a Sony exclusive I'll just buy it on the PS5.
 
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It makes total sense really.

Xbox had no choice in needing to go multiplatform.

PlayStation had a choice. Gave it a go and decided it wasn't worth it.
 
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