3 Reasons why PlayStation will stop Releasing Games on PC

In an era where industry trends point to healthier business models that are multiplatform, PlayStation made a bold move: God of War, The Last of Us, Horizon, Spider-Man, and other major games previously exclusive to consoles are now available on PC. However, something seems to be making the Japanese giant rethink this decision.

In today's special, we'll discuss how this all unfolded and point out three reasons why PlayStation PC is becoming less active. There's a legacy left by previous administrations that, in fact, didn't please the community.

Anyone who thinks this strategy is something recent is mistaken. The end of the PS4 generation was simply resounding. A console had just delivered Final Fantasy VII Remake, Ghost of Tsushima, and The Last of Us Part II in its "farewell" in 2020. The "only on PlayStation" label, especially for the latter two, homegrown titles, was a symbol of ostentation.

However, 2020 was a year where people were at home due to COVID-19. Many people around the world started working from their homes, and the demand for high-performance computers skyrocketed. This led to a shortage of chips affecting the entire home appliance industry, hindering the availability of the PS5 and Xbox Series on store shelves.

With multi-million dollar projects on the way and a generation that may’ve taken a little longer to gain traction in sales, companies like Microsoft, Square Enix, and others opted to open up their portfolios. No exclusivity. Titles like Gears of War are on PlayStation. Square Enix treats Final Fantasy VII Remake as a timed exclusive at all times — and there's also the issue of sales targets achieved with FF XVI and other projects. Different times.

It was no different with PlayStation. The Japanese giant made some mistakes that cost it dearly with the community and critics. In its pursuit of profit, the thirst for a games-as-a-service model kept some studios busy and others closed. In its pursuit of profit, the brand's main IPs "hopping over". And in our pursuit of profit, here’s our first reason for the change in perspective:

The home of Kratos, Ellie, Aloy, and so many other recent gaming icons has changed. With Jim Ryan at the helm for several years, business has truly become business. Billion-dollar companies don't think so much about the consumer, but rather about profit—and that's all that matters.

The community saw Kratos appear on PC, the complete Norse saga. Ellie, with The Last of Us and two highly praised games, also appeared on Steam and other platforms. Aloy, in addition to computers, ended up being introduced to the Switch 2 in a LEGO co-op game. Not to mention other "lesser-known" titles like Days Gone and Sackboy.

Like it or not, we're human, and feeling special about something is essential. The home of heavyweight single-player games has become a laboratory for live services — games like Fortnite and Call of Duty Warzone. Many might’ve wanted to see FromSoftware go to the blue side, but the team's "big signing" was Bungie. An intelligence center for Games as a Service. The message was more than clear.

Hermen Hulst, co-founder of Guerrilla (Killzone, Horizon) and head of PS Studios, along with Hideaki Nishino, who has held various positions since 2006, took the lead of the division after Hiroki Totoki became CEO of Sony Group. The publisher was back in its cradle, with Japanese arms and minds in charge again. AstroBot was the game of the year after Concord, a multi-billion dollar and "exclusive" project, was shut down after only a few days. Another message was given.

However, the "damage" was already done. Simpler than it seems, the current administration, according to rumors, simply pressed a button and decided to reassess the strategy. Live services in production will continue to be released for other platforms, but what made PlayStation "great" may no longer be so.

Ghost of Yotei, Wolverine, and Saros aren’t expected to receive PC ports. On the other hand, games as a service that require engagement will continue to arrive on neighboring and competing platforms. Knowing this, let's move on to the next reason: the cruel and fleeting hype, that if used well, is a scalable profit tool.

According to research published by NewZoo, one of the reasons PlayStation is seeing a return on PC game sales is by reducing the release gap between consoles and computers—or eliminating it altogether and adopting a Day-One release strategy.

This conflicts with figures from PushSquare, a PlayStation-focused portal, where the community embraces this still unofficial, but practically confirmed, return to the "Only on PlayStation" label.

The decision then becomes very clear: embrace the POTENTIAL Day-One profit and leave the loyal base "voiceless", or continue the single-player legacy within its own ecosystem and only embrace other platforms when online titles need an audience. This is precisely the point covered in the next section:

Nintendo knows how to live well with this choice and doesn't hesitate when it comes to bringing Mario and Zelda to PC. They belong to their consoles, and that, for now, shouldn't change. How many people bought the Switch 2 just to have fun with Pokémon Pokopia, for example? Exclusivity is also a sales strategy, and giving it up can be detrimental.

With single-player games, PlayStation's main strength, the "Only on PlayStation" approach works very well. God of War and Marvel's Spider-Man reached very high numbers even before going to PC—which didn't change the overall sales landscape that much. Now, aiming for profit, the best alternative is to go multiplatform.

Marathon itself, with the PS Studios and Bungie seal, is available on PC and Xbox. Sales on Steam, in fact, suggest they’re higher compared to consoles. Was that expected? Perhaps, after all, many gamers consider computers their main way of enjoying games. And that's how the strategy will apparently be implemented from now on.

PlayStation's profits, as mentioned above, mainly from its core IPs, are already considerably satisfactory. Major releases like God of War, Spider-Man, and The Last of Us sell out quickly, and many people prefer to buy a PlayStation console just to access these experiences.

Not only that, the brand is synonymous with high-level gameplay and performance. Even though the Xbox Series X is more powerful compared to the base PS5, Rockstar's silent marketing for GTA 6 speaks volumes. That's where it sells the most. That's where the audience that enjoys single-player games and high-level experiences is, especially when they’re "just for them".

Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, the God of War remake, and several other projects yet to be revealed to the public are in development and should arrive by the end of this generation. With the PS6 on the way, this move needs to be direct and send a message to the industry and fans. Will Sony Group embrace the brand and continue its growth, or will it bet on multiplatform play as a whole and risk "losing" a portion of its fanbase? Comment below what you think!