PlayStation chief Jim Ryan believes that Sony’s current strategy of releasing games on PC several years after the console’s launch is working well, with fans seeing the extra wait for a PC port as “acceptable”.
Communicating with Famitsu (by IGN), Ryan said that Sony understands the “importance of PS5-exclusive games” such as last year’s God of War Ragnarök, and therefore rejects the idea of launching PC games at the same time as their console counterparts. “The primary responsibility of PlayStation Studios is to create games for the latest PlayStation hardware that players will love,” explained Ryan. He went on to say that the company is increasing the number of PS5 exclusives and “rocking the release of the PC versions.”
This comment from Ryan echoes that of PlayStation Studios head Herman Hulst, who previously said that the company It will likely take “at least a year” to release its own releases on PC.with the possible exception of games with live service.
Ryan continued, “I often have the opportunity to ask the opinion of game fans, and when I ask them how they feel about the time lag, they often say that they feel that the PC version is two or three years after the game’s release. The PlayStation version is acceptable.”
Sony said last year that it expects PC and mobile games account for nearly half of all PlayStation game releases by 2025, but it’s fair to say that these won’t be day one releases.
Sony has ported several of its console exclusives to PC in recent years. Among them are Horizon Zero Dawn, God of War, Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection and Days Gone.
Some of these ports had better reception than others. Marvel’s Spider-Man and Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Moralesfor example, both received praise from Digital Foundry for the PC release.
On the other hand, similar The Last of Us Part 1 failed to impress, as Alex Bataglia recently noted that this PC port arrived in “pretty terrible shape” back in March.
Other Sony titles, meanwhile, failed to make any real impact on their PC releases, with Sackboy: The Great Adventure The all-time maximum number of simultaneous players on Steam is still a pretty awful 610.
Elsewhere in the same interview, Ryan touched more on the PSVR2 launch. He said it’s still “a little early to judge” the headset’s popularity, but so far the response has been “positive.” The executive also said that there will be many more games for Sony’s latest VR this year “and beyond.”
“We’re going to keep working to make sure that those who buy PS VR2 can enjoy it for a long time, and we can also make a profit,” Ryan told the publication, sharing that his favorite VR2 game is upcoming Beat Saber release.
Earlier this year, a report claimed Sony has reduced the planned shipments of PlayStation VR2 in response to a disappointing number of pre-orders. As reported by Eurogamer, that’s not true, and Sony has remained optimistic about its VR future.
Sony has a The presentation of the PlayStation is scheduled for this week. This show will last an hour and will focus on PlayStation 5 and PS VR2 games from PlayStation Studios, third-party partners and indie creators from around the world, so we can expect to hear more.