PlayStation fans don’t seem to be too thrilled about the latest PlayStation game coming to PC.
As reported by Tech4Gamers, some gamer are console warring over Ghost of Tsushima’s upcoming Steam port, on Steam itself. How bad is it? There’s literally a thread on the Ghost of Tsushima with the title “Don’t buy this’, with the OP clearly explaining they feel that Sony is ‘betraying’ them with this port.
Another thread has the headline “PC players are the worst,” complaining that having this PC port is harming the people who bought PlayStation 5 consoles.
Now, we have to acknowledge as Tech4Gamers did, that some of these posters may be trolling and aren’t sincerely saying this. But given how vocal and concerted this noise is, it’s clear that there are a lot of Sony users who really hold these beliefs.
And how does Sony feel about it? As you may remember, Sony revealed their new strategy of bringing games to PC years ago, and have continued to pursue that strategy, citing its success. On one end, this did seem like an honestly good move, for the cause of game preservation.
Sony and their studios seem to feel the same way, because many of their titles are not only on Steam, but on GOG. Those GOG versions of the games are DRM-free, which would be unheard of if you brought this up, as recently as a decade ago.
But we know the real reason Sony is doing this, and that’s because it increases the profit margins on their first party games. In fact, if there’s anything Sony fans should be uncomfortable about, it should be the message Sony had long made implicit, that finally became explicit when Insomniac’s documents leaked because of the Rhysida ransomware attack.
As it turns out, Sony’s games are rapidly becoming too expensive to make. They can boast of the high production values, that matches high level graphics and performance with great gameplay, and a clear real investment in game design. But all that came with severely high bills that Sony paid for up front, and they did not get the corresponding return on on the PlayStation 5.
Ratchet and Clank Rift Apart, as revealed in the Insomniac leaks, could have been considered a flop in its initial release, and it was after they released the game on PC and sales went up on both PC and PlayStation that it could be considered a success.
And this shows how Sony’s own hardcore fans may say one thing, but do a completely different thing. Sony gamers may say they’re fiercely loyal to PlayStation 5. But, Sony isn’t making enough money from those same people in sales of their games.
This certainly isn’t the only internal contradiction the industry faces with today, but obviously, Sony isn’t incentivized to take this fan reaction seriously. If Sony wants to keep their studios making games for them, or to make as many games as they do with the same high production values, they simply have to keep releasing those games on PC.
