Sony's Senior Vice President says the company's live service games will release 'simultaneously' with PC, but single-player launches are designed to 'bring new players' onto PS5
Sony's policy toward PC has shifted noticeably over the last few years. The publisher has gradually been bringing more of its exclusive titles to PC, and more recently, launching games like Helldivers 2 concurrency on PC and PS5. Now, the company's soon-to-be co-CEO Hermen Hulst has outlined the whys and wherefores of its current strategy, and how we can expect them to approach releases in the future.
Speaking at this year's Sony Business Briefing, Hulst explained that Sony has a «dual approach» to game releases. «On the live-service side, we're releasing our titles simultaneously, so day-and-date on PS5 and PC,» he explained. But with the publisher's «tentpole titles» (i.e. big budget singleplayer titles like God of War and Horizon: Forbidden West) Hulst says they take a more «strategic approach, and we introduce our great franchises to new audiences». Hulst doesn't say how they approach this, but he presumably means releasing them as PlayStation exclusives first, and onto other platforms later.
Hermen Hulst, soon to be co-CEO of Sony's PlayStation business, addresses day 1 PC releases. Live service games will come day and date on PS5 and PC, but single player narrative games on PC are designed to then entice PC owners to play sequels on a PlayStation console pic.twitter.com/uAO0stlBS6May 29, 2024
What he does explain, however, is what he hopes Sony will get out of this. «We're finding new audiences that are potentially going to be very interested in playing, for example, sequels on the PlayStation platform. We have high hopes that we're actually able to bring new players into PlayStation at large, but into PlayStation platforms specifically.»
In short, Sony hopes that if you really dug, say, God of War on PC, then you'll be more inclined to invest in a PlayStation 5 to play God of War: Ragnarok while it's exclusive to the platform. There is a logic to this, but I do think Hulst underestimates how patient and determined PC gamers can be. There's a whole contingent
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