Report: Sony abandoning PlayStation game releases on PC

Neither Ghost of Yotei nor Saros will be released on PC, as Sony plans to stop bringing its major PlayStation games to PC, according to Bloomberg.

It drew attention when Sony in 2020 began releasing PlayStation games from its own studios on PC, bringing titles such as God of War and The Last of Us to Steam on Windows.

The games run natively on PC because PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 are both built on the x86 chip architecture, just like PCs. Keeping the games off PC was an artificial limitation and the decision to release them on PC purely strategic.


Sony pulls back
PlayStation games have sold poorly on Windows, according to Bloomberg's sources. Sony has therefore reportedly abandoned plans to release future major single-player PS5 games on PC.

This means that titles such as Ghost of Yotei and Saros will not be coming to PC, according to the sources. Instead, they will remain exclusive to PlayStation 5. Sony declined to comment.

 Also read: Guide: How to play PlayStation games on Apple TV and Google TV

There are still plans to release online games such as Marathon and Marvel Tokon. Single-player games like Death Stranding 2 and Kena: Scars of Kosmora will also just make it to PC before the change.

Sales data collected by Newzoo supports the claim that PS5 games do not sell well on PC, but the analytics firm primarily attributes this to the long wait between the PS5 launch and the PC release, GamesIndustry.biz reports.


Microsoft moves in the opposite direction
While Sony is returning to console exclusivity, Microsoft is moving in the opposite direction. Microsoft has announced that the next Xbox will be able to run PC games, while Windows 11 is getting an 'Xbox Mode'.

Microsoft has also begun to release Xbox exclusives on PlayStation 5.

Steam is likewise working to blur the line between PC and console games with the launch of the Steam Machine console.

Unlike Microsoft, with Windows, Sony does not own a PC platform, giving it a stronger incentive to keep PlayStation and game consoles relevant. Nintendo also does not release Switch games on PC. Apple is attempting to bridge its platforms so that games work universally.

- Source: Bloomberg, GamesIndustry.biz