Shawn Layden, a former PlayStation executive does not consider it a possibility that Sony Interactive Entertainment will prefer launching its games for console and PC on the same day.
While their one of the top-tier rivals Microsoft actually does that, Sony still takes a more cautious approach about this choice. Sony is currently releasing its games for PC way later than they release them on consoles. But it is actually slowly shortening the interval between such releases. “Horizon Zero Dawn” had over three years between its releases. With “Days Gone”, this period was reduced to two years. Now 2016’s Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End and 2017’s Uncharted: The Lost Legacy will make the jump to PC in 2022 – “shortly after” they arrive for PS5.
Layden said “The idea of going to PC—and I don’t think you’ll ever see PlayStation do a day and date with PC, but you know, never say never—but the strategy as we were developing it when I was there was that we need to go out to where these new customers are, these new fans could be. We need to go to where they are because they’ve decided not to go to come to my house so I’ve got to go to their house now. And what’s the best way to go to their house? Why don’t I take one of our top selling games, which has already blown up the marketplace, it’s already been out there for 18 months or 24 months, there’s no real retail activity against that title, I’m not trading off one sale for another, and bring that to the personal computer platform and let them have an idea – you guys choose not to come to PlayStation but let me show you what you’re missing.“
According to Layden, this strategy does not end up in a loss. It actually encourages some PC players to also buy consoles for those titles. He also said that “Horizon Zero Dawn has been very successful (on PC), I think it shows there’s an appetite from gamers outside the PlayStation ecosystem to experience the amazing portfolio of games that PlayStation fans have enjoyed for years. But I want to emphasize that PlayStation will remain the best place to play our PlayStation Studios titles at launch. But we do value PC gamers, and we’ll continue to look at the right times to launch each game. Bend Studio just released the PC version of Days Gone on May 18. So that’s about two years after the PS4 release. And I hope that a new set of fans can and will enjoy that title. And that’s the goal — we want to reach new gamers who haven’t yet experienced the great stories, characters, and worlds that we’ve built. Releasing games on PC will not come ever at the expense of building an exciting lineup of great console games.“
PlayStation recently acquired Nixxes Software, and company is best known for PC versions of Square Enix titles like Tomb Raider, Deus Ex, Hitman and Thief. This could be a sign of a new era to come.
