For years we’ve seen console exclusives stay with consoles while PC players typically were given access to purchase third-party video game titles. It was likely a means to get some players purchasing a console from the likes of Sony and Microsoft. However, Microsoft changed things up by making sure their Xbox exclusive titles would also be available for PC players. This would allow those that enjoy console gaming to see have these great video game titles, but also opening up the ability to further increase profits by allowing a PC port to be made.
That’s something we’ve seen from Microsoft over the past few years now, but Sony has slowly been attempting a similar mindset. We’ve seen this from one of their own Sony exclusive development studios, Guerrilla Games. The studio released its once PlayStation 4 exclusive title, Horizon Zero Dawn, on the PC platform. This sparked both some rage and excitement, as those that didn’t own a PlayStation 4 would be able to enjoy these iconic titles with their PC, while Sony PlayStation 4 supporters felt this was a horrible move on the company’s part.
We’re not sure if we’ll see this move being made across every Sony exclusive and as it stands right now, we only have one Sony-owned IP release onto the PC from their collection of PlayStation 4 exclusives. However, recently, Sony made an announcement of doubling down on more exclusive video games for the PlayStation 5. With a console that’s not as powerful as the Microsoft Xbox Series X, there is likely some motivation to ensure that Sony still can deliver some highly detailed and exclusive content. However, with that said, there could also be some incentive to further increase profits. As noted in a corporate report from Sony this year, it was noted that they are interested in exploring more video game titles launching on the PC platform purely to grow and gain more profits.
“We will explore expanding our 1st party titles to the PC platform, in order to promote further growth in our profitability.”
Perhaps we’ll start seeing more of these iconic PlayStation 4 exclusives release on the PC platform while companies start to transition into making purely PlayStation 5 exclusives. Meanwhile, it will be interesting to see if Sony starts to focus on releasing games together at launch for both their console and a PC platform port. I’d imagine that their profits could increase quite a bit by allowing another market of players access to purchase a game that wouldn’t have any interest in picking up the latest console.