Sony PlayStation cross-platform game strategy

[eastmen]

I guess it depends on your expectations. If you're happy with with this, all power to you. Like I said, games are fun and gatekeeping fun is an arsehole position to take. Spider-Man is the 800lb elephant in the room. It's a massive IP with massive appeal. Why aren't Marvel twisting Sony's arm? Why Horizon before Spider-Man? It makes no sense. Spider-Man was 2018, Miles Morales was 2020 and we already have Spider-Man 2 announced. This seems like such a wasted opportunity, particularly given Activision released games on all platforms and even the later mediocre games sold well enough to keep developing and releasing them.



To the best of my knowledge, none of these games/IPs are owned by Sony and they cannot stop them being released on PC even if there is some tedious console exclusive agreement in place.

God of War Ragnarok is a 2022 title . So it makes sense to release the 4 year old title on pc to get people interested in a sequel with less than a year to go. If they time frames between playstation and pc ports continue the sequel would take 3-4 years to hit pc. So its a way to funnel people into buying a ps5 for the sequel.

Spider-man 2 is a 2023 title correct ? So wouldn't it make sense to release spiderman for pc in 2023 . Its the same as god of war. release original on pc in the same year as you release the sequel on ps5.

I mean for me that is what I would do to maximize interest in the franchise.

 

[pjbliverpool]

I guess it depends on your expectations. If you're happy with with this, all power to you. Like I said, games are fun and gatekeeping fun is an arsehole position to take. Spider-Man is the 800lb elephant in the room. It's a massive IP with massive appeal. Why aren't Marvel twisting Sony's arm? Why Horizon before Spider-Man? It makes no sense.

The highest selling PS4 game of all time is God of War. Second is Uncharted 4. Spiderman only comes in 3rd and HZD isn't far behind.

I'd say PC gamers absolutely should be happy with this and its pretty obvious there will be much more to come.

 

[iroboto]

The highest selling PS4 game of all time is God of War. Second is Uncharted 4. Spiderman only comes in 3rd and HZD isn't far behind.

I'd say PC gamers absolutely should be happy with this and its pretty obvious there will be much more to come.

PC is now the all in one. It's viable to be PC only and get all games now. You just gotta wait for some titles to arrive. Others will arrive day one. the BC catalog is not perfect though, but who cares.

 

[PSman1700]

PC is now the all in one. It's viable to be PC only and get all games now. You just gotta wait for some titles to arrive. Others will arrive day one. the BC catalog is not perfect though, but who cares.

And your usually (if not a downright bad port) technically the best versions aswell as the most versitile (controls, mods, choose your own settings etc).

 

[iroboto]

And your usually (if not a downright bad port) technically the best versions aswell as the most versitile (controls, mods, choose your own settings etc).

probably we've seen some weird stuff happen. But by next generation, most of these issues should be ironed out unless consoles move to exotic hardware suddenly.

 

[PSman1700]

probably we've seen some weird stuff happen.

With HZD the port was abit rough but they patched it quickly, its a great port now.

But by next generation, most of these issues should be ironed out unless consoles move to exotic hardware suddenly.

Apple sillicon

 

[Deleted member 11852]

Spider-man 2 is a 2023 title correct ? So wouldn't it make sense to release spiderman for pc in 2023 . Its the same as god of war. release original on pc in the same year as you release the sequel on ps5.

So releasing a PC version of Spider-Man in 2021 then a PC version of Miles Morales in 2022 would be a nice lead-in. Let the Windows-only folks have a couple of samplings so they get caught up in the Spider-Man 2 marketing. Perhaps some will cave and buy a PS5 if they like the game enough to not want to wait potentially four years.

I mean for me that is what I would do to maximize interest in the franchise.

I think interest in the franchise is through the roof without Sony's games, this is about Sony leaving money on the table. I can't think of any other games like Spider-Man releasing so there is a gap in a market.

PC is now the all in one. It's viable to be PC only and get all games now. You just gotta wait for some titles to arrive. Others will arrive day one. the BC catalog is not perfect though, but who cares.

But it's not all the games, at least not all the PlayStation games and almost no Nintendo games. So all the games apart from the two largest consoles platforms? All PlayStation games are not coming to Windows, they're not all coming to PS Now either, and if/when they do they may not be available when you want to play. It's the same with GamePass - some titles availability will be limited to windows of availability.

The reason I own a PC, a PlayStation, a Switch and a Xbox is because of this.

 

[NewRedGuard]

I still think they won't port games with multiplayer in them because of the subscription requirement on console, which is probably the reason we haven't seen Blooborne yet.
Journey would confirm this, since its multiplayer doesn't require PS+. And afaik they haven't mentioned multiplayer in the new Uncharted Collection, so I think it won't be included.

Has Sony deprecated their marketing slogan of "Only on Playstation" or featured it less in materials?

Yes, it's why they came up with the "PlayStation Studios" logo/intro. Same brand recognition, without the need to stick to the PS ecosystem.

 

[snc]

All PlayStation games are not coming to Windows.

imo most comming, just not on premiere but when sales on playstation are saturated so 2 - 3 years after premiere, not sure it will affect consoles sales (for sure I wouldn't buy ps5 and xsx if sony release all games day 1 on pc)

 

[Inuhanyou]

A few years ago I would have been really concerned a sony prioritization on PC would deprioritize their console userbase and usher in an eventual phase out of console hardware altogether.

But these days I am fine with it. People on PC who never got to play playstation games and would never have gotten a console now have access to that software and the revenue can go back into SIE making games.

It was the way things were blowing with MS and Sony. But Sony still prioritizes console userbase by waiting a few years until that userbase has used up all the sales potential so there's no downside.

Maybe there will be people who don't decide to buy a ps5 and just wait on PC for that software, but that's more choice to the consumer I suppose.

 

[see colon]

I think the most surprising thing for me about Sony's PC strategy is that there is little to no effort into getting PC players into Playstation services. To my knowledge, there isn't any "sign into Playstation for cloud saves" or cross save sync, or trophies. And no effort to have their own PC games store or anything like that. It's great from a consumer stand point that PC gamers are getting PS exclusives, but Microsoft, Google, Apple... All of the players in the entertainment space know it's about services now. Content is what gets people into your ecosystem, and you "trap" them there by keeping them beholden to the features of the service.

 

[Cynicalking]

But it's not all the games, at least not all the PlayStation games and almost no Nintendo games. So all the games apart from the two largest consoles platforms? All PlayStation games are not coming to Windows, they're not all coming to PS Now either, and if/when they do they may not be available when you want to play. It's the same with GamePass - some titles availability will be limited to windows of availability.

The reason I own a PC, a PlayStation, a Switch and a Xbox is because of this.

Well, technically, you can play most if not all Nintendo games on PC on release.

 

[DuckThor Evil]

The highest selling PS4 game of all time is God of War. Second is Uncharted 4. Spiderman only comes in 3rd and HZD isn't far behind.

That's inaccurate and I assume you are getting these at Wikipedia, which has gathered numbers for these games at very different points in time. God of War's figure is from Yesterday and Spiderman's is from 2019. Spiderman seems to be past 20M now.

In any case I don't see any other future than a one where Sony games are coming to PC faster and faster.

 

[Inuhanyou]

I think the most surprising thing for me about Sony's PC strategy is that there is little to no effort into getting PC players into Playstation services. To my knowledge, there isn't any "sign into Playstation for cloud saves" or cross save sync, or trophies. And no effort to have their own PC games store or anything like that. It's great from a consumer stand point that PC gamers are getting PS exclusives, but Microsoft, Google, Apple... All of the players in the entertainment space know it's about services now. Content is what gets people into your ecosystem, and you "trap" them there by keeping them beholden to the features of the service.

Sony doesn't have any investment into PC as a service in the first place. MS apple and Google are all PC first service based companies so it makes sense their priority would be on unifying all of their ecosystems.

Whereas with Sony PlayStation is still just the console userbase. The only difference is that PC users will now contribute directly to coffers of the console business which will trickle down eventually back to them.

Atleast in this instance trickle down effect seems sensible for their type of company.

 

[eastmen]

Sony doesn't have any investment into PC as a service in the first place. MS apple and Google are all PC first service based companies so it makes sense their priority would be on unifying all of their ecosystems.

Whereas with Sony PlayStation is still just the console userbase. The only difference is that PC users will now contribute directly to coffers of the console business which will trickle down eventually back to them.

Atleast in this instance trickle down effect seems sensible for their type of company.

It can also be sony hedging its bets. They are performing well now but if other big players get in the market they can squeeze sony out quickly. There is a rumored apple handheld and we can see looking at apple music and tv how quickly a joke of an offering gets persuasive when apple can swing around its money and installed base. Even microsoft would have trouble out bidding apple

 

[Inuhanyou]

It can also be sony hedging its bets. They are performing well now but if other big players get in the market they can squeeze sony out quickly. There is a rumored apple handheld and we can see looking at apple music and tv how quickly a joke of an offering gets persuasive when apple can swing around its money and installed base. Even microsoft would have trouble out bidding apple

I actually think sony are confident in their ability to provide content people will keep paying for on their hardware or otherwise.

It's true increased competition matters but talking to users who would pick up consoles is another matter entirely for these huge conglomerates.

What I think is more likely is that there is a hard ceiling on console userbase of around 100 million and so they want increased streams of revenue from elsewhere when the sales potential on their own platform dries.

 

[Deleted member 11852]

imo most comming

Sure, and I respect your opinion. But until Sony actually commits to this, that's all it will remain. Debating it like its fact leads of fanciful notions and pointless discussion. Sony will need a considerable more porting reproduce to even double the number they output on Windows. And every dollar spent on porting is a dollar they're not spending on improving their IP stable.

 

[eastmen]

I actually think sony are confident in their ability to provide content people will keep paying for on their hardware or otherwise.

It's true increased competition matters but talking to users who would pick up consoles is another matter entirely for these huge conglomerates.

What I think is more likely is that there is a hard ceiling on console userbase of around 100 million and so they want increased streams of revenue from elsewhere when the sales potential on their own platform dries.

It could be but consoles kinda feel like point and click cameras in the early 2000s right before the smart phone took over. People didn't want two devices to do the same thing and so one basicly died out. It's the same right now. Sony does have movie studios and music but they are no where near as big as Apple or microsoft and if it comes to creating and buying content its going to be a zero sum game for Sony.

Yes maybe that PlayStation has some compelling games , but I have an iphone and mac and I'm subscribed to apple tv , music , arcade and so wouldn't I want to jump onto another apple subscription that gives me the games on all my other devices vs buying a single dedicated piece of hardware ... its a loosing game.

I am sure that is why MS is scrambling to push game pass as fast as possible and get as many popular developers bought up before apple enters.

I also think its why stadia and amazons products ultimately failed. Stadia should have been part of youtube. You load up youtube and watch a lets play or a review of the game and boom there is an option to stream it onto your device to play or you can buy it to play on your device. Same with Amazon , your on twitch watching somenoe play a game boom you can start streaming it right away or purchase it to download and play through the amazon games launcher. They wouldn't have a large amount of first party games but they would both get all the 3rd party games.

Sony and microsoft so far have been lucky that Apple hasn't entered and Google and Amazon messed up.

 

[snc]

Sure, and I respect your opinion. But until Sony actually commits to this, that's all it will remain. Debating it like its fact leads of fanciful notions and pointless discussion. Sony will need a considerable more porting reproduce to even double the number they output on Windows. And every dollar spent on porting is a dollar they're not spending on improving their IP stable.

not more pointless than any other subject discussed on forums ;d Sony will never say "we will port all games to pc but after sell on playstation is saturated" publicly even if it was their real plan. They are not hiding that more games comming to pc also they didn't buy Nixxies without purpose.

 

[Deleted member 11852]

not more pointless than any other subject discussed on forums ;d Sony will never say "we will port all games to pc but after sell on playstation is saturated" publicly even if it was their real plan. Thei are not hiding that more games comming to pc also they didn't buy Nixxies without purpose.

What you have written is basically what Sony have said - minus any commitment to large numbers of games.