Don’t expect PlayStation to abandon consoles for PCs any time soon

digitaltrends.com:

Sony has recently had a lot of success publishing its first-party PlayStation 5 games to PC, but that doesn’t mean the company is going to become a PC company first.

In an interview with Japanese publication Nikkei (via Video Games Chronicle), Hideaki Nishino, head of Sony Interactive Entertainment’s Platform Business Group, said that that Sony will continue to make content for PCs, but “there is no doubt” that consoles will continue to be the priority.

“We are trying to increase our share of the overall game market by developing content for PCs as well. There is no doubt that consoles will be at the core of our business, but by offering titles for platforms other than consoles, we will reach a wider range of customers,” Nishino said.

He continued to tout the value of consoles versus PC, saying that it eases the process of installing and setting up a game, and that consoles have native stores that streamline the process of buying games.

However, that doesn’t mean Sony won’t continue to invest in PC. Its current strategy involves releasing its AAA single-player games on PlayStation first, and then on PC later, while its live-service titles like the successful Helldivers 2 and the ill-fated Concord will be released on both PlayStation 5 and PC simultaneously. According to Nishino, this is a great way to gain players on other platforms.

You can see Sony’s continued investment in console hardware with the PlayStation 5 Pro announcement last week. The company revealed that it will have updated specs, including a bigger GPU, but won’t come with a disc drive or stand. It’ll cost $700 when preorders open up on September 26 and when it launches on November 7. This is a product specifically for console players who want the highest frame rates imaginable, and it’ll still cost less than some of the most expensive PC GPUs.

Nishino was one of two co-CEOs appointed after former head Jim Ryan departed earlier this year. He works alongside Hiroki Totoki, who is CEO of SIE’s business