According to a new report by Bloomberg (paywalled), it is claimed that PlayStation will be scaling back its multiplatform strategy by not releasing single-player titles on PC.
This won’t affect online multiplayer titles. The upcoming Marathon and Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls and other upcoming multiplayer titles will still launch on PC—Marathon in particular will also launch day and date on Xbox Series X|S. But games like Ghost Of Yotei and the upcoming Saros will likely remain PS5 exclusives.
Death Stranding 2, a PlayStation Studios title developed by an external non-PlayStation Studio developer (a 2nd party game, in other words), is getting a release on PC soon and so will Kena: Scars Of Kosmora, the sequel to Kena: Bridge Of Spirits.
The most current in-house PlayStation Studios title would be last year’s Ghost Of Yotei. Don’t hold your breath for a PC port announcement soon if the report is to be believed.
That said, according to Bloomberg’s sources, this “could change in the future due to the unpredictable nature of the video-game industry,” but right now, it seems like PlayStation isn’t looking to port their big-budget PS5 hits to PC.
While there is no official reason why PlayStation is u-turning back into single-player exclusives, the Bloomberg report offered a few possibilities which includes:
- Recent PC ports are not selling well
- Concern among “a faction within PlayStation” that PC sales affecting sales of PS5 “and its successors”
- Next generation Xbox likely be a Windows machine capable of playing PC games, in turn allowing PlayStation games playable on Xbox
PlayStation’s big advantage is it has a mature lineup of single-player franchises and in-house developers. A PlayStation AAA blockbuster is usually a big event, and a big seller. But if the console maker perceived that the double dip of releasing first on PS5, and a PC port much later down the line, is not a the right way to go, at least it’s not taking the same route for its multiplayer titles.