In recent years, PlayStation has changed its corporate policy by deciding to publish several of its exclusives on PC too. PlayStation exclusives make their PC debut several months or years after their console release, but Sony has also experimented with a simultaneous release with Helldivers 2.
Regarding the latter, as of March 2024 it was estimated that over 60% of sales were made on PC. This means that for the first time in the history of PlayStation, the platform with the largest user base for its own exclusive was not on console.
Does this mean Sony should care about the PC world? A shareholder asked himself the same question, expressing this doubt during a shareholders’ meeting in November:
It looks like there are several PS5 exclusives coming to your lineup of third-party software titles for the second half of the console’s lifecycle. Is this a way to encourage the transition from PS4 to PS5? I think there is a risk that more users will opt for PCs. Do you think it’s a risk or an opportunity?
We are in the second half of the PS5 cycle and the number of titles is increasing. We have also confirmed internally that the user transition from PS4 to PS5 is progressing well. Additionally, we see that users tend to purchase more software when moving to PS5, which we see as a positive. In terms of losing users to PCs, we have neither confirmed that such a trend is underway, nor do we view it as a major risk, so far.
Sony, therefore, seems to feel no fear regarding a potential future with the PC as the dominant platform. It is undeniable, however, that the PC has an infinite user base and depriving it of it would be counterproductive on an economic level.
In that sense, Steam numbers continue to hit new records every year. Just three weeks ago, Steam rose to an astonishing 39,319,632 concurrent players online. It is likely that the forty million threshold will be reached and exceeded by 2025.
The simultaneous launch of the aforementioned Helldivers 2 demonstrates how, at a company level, the simultaneous launch of a title on both PlayStation 5 and PC is currently a winning strategy, especially in a historical period in which video games have production and marketing costs increasingly higher.
Releasing a title as an absolute exclusive on a single platform, in today’s panorama, is on balance a failing strategy, just look at the change of direction taken by Square Enix after the disappointing results of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth and Final Fantasy XVI.
In conclusion, it is likely that Sony, in the not too distant future, will decide to release all its exclusives simultaneously on console and PC.
