Sony PlayStation cross-platform game strategy

Logo removal means little, several PS5 games are now promoted without "Only on PlayStation" on their covers.

Rift Apart & Demons Souls.
 
What good does it do to remove the logo if it's still only on Playstation? Some intern need to do some work & there was nothing else to do but change game covers? LOL

Tommy McClain
 
maybe they are removing it from all titles so there is consistent comunication across the board regardless of if the game is also on pc or not, and sony has the freedom to decide to port a game to pc at any time they want or never and people can't guess based on cover updates alone like they are trying to do here.
 
In what ways?
Exclusives differentiate and create more incentives to buy said platform as a customer. Which gives even more incentives to stand out as a supplier/developer by making even more exclusives that stand out, since the more people buy games for your platform the more money you get.
Thats the primary reason Sony invests and CAN invest on them. The less people buy your platform and less view your games as unique experiences, the less money and sales you get overall for your platform, which reduces incentives to put more money that make Playstation unique. It is no longer unique, is on PC.
You might claim "oh but more people will be buying your game now since its also on PC" but thats subjective. Less people will own Playstation consoles, thus less money will be coming in (well any game bought for Playstation brings money to Sony, whereas on PC only the Sony game available on PC does) and the perceived uniqueness of former PS exclusives will be diminished. Thus PS will be sought out less, and thus its "exclusive" games.
 
The real problem will arrive if a significant part of PS core gamer goes to PC. Jim Ryan will be fired and they will go back to exclusive games. If it changes nothing and they sold more games it will be ok. They will continue to deliver PS games maybe two to three years later when sales of the game crater on PS console.

They try something for growth. It can work or it can be a problem. Time will tell.
 
The real problem will arrive if a significant part of PS core gamer goes to PC. Jim Ryan will be fired and they will go back to exclusive games. If it changes nothing and they sold more games it will be ok. They will continue to deliver PS games maybe two to three years later when sales of the game crater on PS console.

And there is a middle ground. Releasing some games on PC at some point - with that decision being made on a game-by-game basis. Just releasing games on PC also does not mean the experience will be better on PC. PCMR always gravitate to PC being better, sometimes it is, sometimes it is - it depends on the PC and the quality of the port.

I feel that with this generation, we're at the point where current generation consoles are likely to hold-up against increasing capabilities (assuming you can actually buy GPUs) for the longest. You'll always be able to drive effect harder on a good PC but I would say that for the vast majority, the different isn't that great and even noticeable.

Minimal loading times, 60fps+, native/near-4K output, no maintenance game boxes have never seen so appealing or so competitively priced. For some semi-PCMR types, Series X and GamePass may actually be a lot more appealing.
 
The real problem will arrive if a significant part of PS core gamer goes to PC. Jim Ryan will be fired and they will go back to exclusive games. If it changes nothing and they sold more games it will be ok. They will continue to deliver PS games maybe two to three years later when sales of the game crater on PS console.

They try something for growth. It can work or it can be a problem. Time will tell.

All Xbox 1st party exclusives also come to PC, but so far, it hasn't reduced sales compared to XBO (launch aligned). If not for supply issues it'd likely be selling even more than XBO. And we'll all agree that at launch almost all MS 1st party exclusives were not available on PC.

Normal take with a grain of salt disclaimer.
Xbox Series X|S vs Xbox One Launch Sales Comparison Through Week 12 - Xbox Series X|S Takes the Lead (vgchartz.com)

This would seem to lend credence to the assertion that some analysts (including myself, although I'm not an analyst) have said that while there is some overlap between console consumers and PC consumers, it isn't much.

This shouldn't come as a surprise as the serve 2 demographics that are divided by not only price (someone that won't pay launch prices for a console is unlike to pay for a gaming PC) but convenience and just plain platform preference. And while some PC gamers might get a console due to price, for the most part PC will remain their main gaming machine. IE - these gamers aren't the type that console makers want anyway since they'll buy most multiplatform games on PC.

That last one is, IMO, one of the main motivators for MS putting their exclusives on PC day and date. Why potentially sell an Xbox console at a loss to a gamer that is unlikely to buy enough exclusives to recoup the loss generated by the hardware? Sony may be thinking the same thing. Why sell the PS5 at a loss to a gamer who is only ever going to buy exclusives which may not even cover the loss generated by the hardware sale? Why not just make a profit with no loss in hardware by just selling the game to them on PC?

In general, people that play on console do so for reasons other than exclusives. And people game on PC regardless of exclusives.

Where console exclusives are important is influencing the choice of console platform a person gets if they are the type of person that wants to game on console.

Looking at profitability, as a console maker, you want to attract people to the console that will buy all or the majority of their games on console. If the consumer is the type of gamer that prefers all their multiplatform games to be on PC, then as a console maker, you aren't going to make much, if any, profit off of them. Sure it'll inflate your console hardware base numbers for bragging rights, but it's not bringing in much revenue. Instead, you can make far more profit by selling to them on PC while you continue to sell your console to people that buy all or the majority of their games on console.

TL: DR - and there are of course, always exceptions to the below.
  • In general, PC gamers that also game on console generally only buy exclusives on console and everything else on PC.
    • These consumers aren't the ones that either Sony or MS want buying their console.
    • These consumers either generate a loss or an almost insignificant profit.
      • The loss is magnified at launch if the sale is preventing a console consumer (next bullet point) from being able to buy a console.
  • In general a person that has console as their chosen gaming console (where they buy their multiplatform games) are still going to game on console even if the exclusives are on PC, these are the consumers that the console makers want.
    • The largest profit generator is royalties from 3rd party game sales.
    • Console makers want gamers that buy all or most of their multiplatform games on console.
  • In which case, selling your exclusive on PC leads to extra profit.
    • Expensive hardware goes only to people that also buy games on console.
      • higher profit margins or potential for selling your console at a larger loss.
    • Extra revenue from PC gamers that will never buy a console.
IMO, there's almost no downside to selling 1st party exclusives on PC. The PC and console markets are just too different and as a console maker you really don't want someone that only buys your console for the exclusives and nothing else.

I mean sure you can inflate your console install base numbers, but that's only useful for bragging rights.

Regards,
SB
 
Last edited:
60fps+, native/near-4K output,

What you're missing here is that traditionally it has been higher framerate and resolution that have absorbed much of the PC's performance advantage.

With consoles games now running at 60fps / 4K (reconstructed or not), even mid range PC's have power to spare in providing console games at resolutions and framerates expected by PC gamers (given that reconstruction is becoming common on the PC as well). Hence developers should be able to offer a lot more on the core graphical elements while remaining confident that their games will remain playable of a wide range of hardware. And this generation RT should offer a relatively straight forward upgrade path. Metro Enhanced and Watch Dogs Legion are good examples of that.
 
All Xbox 1st party exclusives also come to PC, but so far, it hasn't reduced sales compared to XBO (launch aligned). If not for supply issues it'd likely be selling even more than XBO. And we'll all agree that at launch almost all MS 1st party exclusives were not available on PC.

Normal take with a grain of salt disclaimer.
Xbox Series X|S vs Xbox One Launch Sales Comparison Through Week 12 - Xbox Series X|S Takes the Lead (vgchartz.com)

This would seem to lend credence to the assertion that some analysts (including myself, although I'm not an analyst) have said that while there is some overlap between console consumers and PC consumers, it isn't much.

This shouldn't come as a surprise as the serve 2 demographics that are divided by not only price (someone that won't pay launch prices for a console is unlike to pay for a gaming PC) but convenience and just plain platform preference. And while some PC gamers might get a console due to price, for the most part PC will remain their main gaming machine. IE - these gamers aren't the type that console makers want anyway since they'll buy most multiplatform games on PC.

That last one is, IMO, one of the main motivators for MS putting their exclusives on PC day and date. Why potentially sell an Xbox console at a loss to a gamer that is unlikely to buy enough exclusives to recoup the loss generated by the hardware? Sony may be thinking the same thing. Why sell the PS5 at a loss to a gamer who is only ever going to buy exclusives which may not even cover the loss generated by the hardware sale? Why not just make a profit with no loss in hardware by just selling the game to them on PC?

In general, people that play on console do so for reasons other than exclusives. And people game on PC regardless of exclusives.

Where console exclusives are important is influencing the choice of console platform a person gets if they are the type of person that wants to game on console.

Looking at profitability, as a console maker, you want to attract people to the console that will buy all or the majority of their games on console. If the consumer is the type of gamer that prefers all their multiplatform games to be on PC, then as a console maker, you aren't going to make much, if any, profit off of them. Sure it'll inflate your console hardware base numbers for bragging rights, but it's not bringing in much revenue. Instead, you can make far more profit by selling to them on PC while you continue to sell your console to people that buy all or the majority of their games on console.

TL: DR - and there are of course, always exceptions to the below.
  • In general, PC gamers that also game on console generally only buy exclusives on console and everything else on PC.
    • These consumers aren't the ones that either Sony or MS want buying their console.
    • These consumers either generate a loss or an almost insignificant profit.
      • The loss is magnified at launch if the sale is preventing a console consumer (next bullet point) from being able to buy a console.
  • In general a person that has console as their chosen gaming console (where they buy their multiplatform games) are still going to game on console even if the exclusives are on PC, these are the consumers that the console makers want.
    • The largest profit generator is royalties from 3rd party game sales.
    • Console makers want gamers that buy all or most of their multiplatform games on console.
  • In which case, selling your exclusive on PC leads to extra profit.
    • Expensive hardware goes only to people that also buy games on console.
      • higher profit margins or potential for selling your console at a larger loss.
    • Extra revenue from PC gamers that will never buy a console.
IMO, there's almost no downside to selling 1st party exclusives on PC. The PC and console markets are just too different and as a console maker you really don't want someone that only buys your console for the exclusives and nothing else.

I mean sure you can inflate your console install base numbers, but that's only useful for bragging rights.

Regards,
SB

Again Microsoft OS is the PC one and PC ecosystem is the Microsoft one. Sony take a risk and they think PC is a competition if they did not think it is the case, they would release the game day one but like Xbox Steam and Epic Game store are competitor for third party content.

https://www.theguardian.com/technol...o-our-approach-isnt-reactive-this-time-around

Regarding the PlayStation 4 Pro, he suggested the Xbox wasn’t even being considered its main competition. Rather, it was the PC. “I saw some data that really influenced me,” he said. “It suggested that there’s a dip mid-console lifecycle where the players who want the very best graphical experience will start to migrate to PC, because that’s obviously where it’s to be had. We wanted to keep those people within our eco-system by giving them the very best and very highest [performance quality]. So the net result of those thoughts was PlayStation 4 Pro – and, by and large, a graphical approach to game improvement.”

In 2016, they explain why did they release midgen console because during PS3 generation some player at the middle of the gen quit console and begins to play multiplatform games on PC.

After it will probably have no impact on PS revenue but if it have a negative impact they will stop it. Sony is like any company and any shareholder they want growth and they think Playstation consoles aren't enough but if revenue and profit diminish because they release games on PC, they will stop.

And they can sold their backlog title on other ecosystem even if is a competitor because they think releasing title later don't devalue the Playstation ecosystem. Playstation want to release more title on mobile because they want more revenue and it is less risky because this is not competition.

I am not sure PS4 Pro helped retain many people in Playstation ecosystem, Jaguar CPU was probably too weak. This time I think PS5 and Xbox Series have a better value and if they do midgen consoles it will probably help with much better CPU.
 
Last edited:
Back
Top