Releasing PlayStation games on PC years after console version "acceptable" to fans, Sony exec claims

eurogamer.net:

PlayStation head Jim Ryan believes Sony's current strategy of releasing games on PC several years after their console launch is working well, and fans find the extra wait for a PC port «acceptable».

Chatting to Famitsu (via IGN), Ryan said Sony understood «the importance of PS5 exclusive titles» such as last year's God of War Ragnarök, and as such dismissed the idea of launching games on PC at the same time as their console counterparts. «PlayStation Studios' main responsibility is to make games for the latest PlayStation hardware that players will enjoy,» Ryan explained. He went on to state the company is increasing its PS5 exclusives and «staggering the release of the PC versions».

This comment from Ryan echoes those of PlayStation Studios head Hermen Hulst, who previously stated that the company's first-party releases will likely take «at least a year» to launch on PC, with the possible exception of live-service games.

Ryan continued: «I often have the opportunity to ask game fans for their opinions, and when I ask them how they feel about the time lag, they often say they feel the release of a PC version two or three years after the release of the PlayStation version is acceptable.»

Last year Sony said it expects PC and mobile games to make up almost half of PlayStation's overall game releases by 2025, but it is clearly fair to say these will not be day one releases.

In recent years, Sony has ported several of its console exclusives over to PC. These have included the likes of Horizon Zero Dawn, God of War, Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection and Days Gone.

Some of these ports have had a better reception than others. Marvel's Spider-Man and Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales, for example, both received praise