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A new study suggests that delaying PlayStation games for years before bringing them to PC has significantly hurt the sales of those PC ports.
With the recent discussion about PlayStation seemingly forgoing more first-party single-player titles in the PC space, much of the talk that has swirled has been around the question of ‘why?’.
Before Sony began porting its exclusives to PC, PC users claimed that the studio was leaving money on the table, as they would flock to buy their games should they end up on Steam.
Multiplayer phenom “Helldivers 2” aside, that never really happened. The most successful first-party single-player port in total sales to this day remains the first – “Horizon: Zero Dawn” – but even that sold only a fraction on PC of what it did on console.
Now, a new analysis piece at GamesIndustry.biz, and conducted by research firm Newzoo has gone into estimated game sales/player bases across platforms and suggests the company’s strategy of releasing titles well after their PS5 debut has limited their reach on PC.
Manu Rosier, Director of Market Intelligence at Newzoo, says: “Newzoo’s data shows that PlayStation titles ported to PC after their console launch typically see PC account for around 13% of total players in the first three months across both releases. By comparison, when comparable AAA titles launch simultaneously on PC and console, PC contributes closer to 44% of players in the same period.”
Arguably, the most interesting result from the whole study is that there is no visible difference between first-party PlayStation titles and third-party titles with a window of PlayStation exclusivity – both commanding an average 12-13% share on PC.
They say the results suggest “the outcome is primarily driven by the staggered release strategy rather than franchise demand on PC.” They conclude: “The key takeaway is that release timing has a significant impact on PC engagement. When a PC version arrives years after the console launch, much of the early lifecycle demand has already been captured on the primary platform.”
Without question, the most successful ports to PC were the earliest with the study citing “Horizon Zero Dawn” doing around 4 million PC players (22% share), “God of War” around 3.5 million (14% share) and “Marvel’s Spider-Man” with 3.8 million (14% share).
All three were titles released at least 3-4 years after their release on PlayStation. As time went on and more ports came out, PC sales shrank even as the time between console and PC release also shrank.
PC share for titles dropped to single digits with “Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart” (8%), “Horizon Forbidden West” (7%), “God of War Ragnarök” (6%) and “Marvel’s Spider-Man 2” at a woeful 5% even though that title made the jump faster than almost any prior AAA PlayStation single player exclusive – just 15 months.
Yet, “Ghost of Tsushima” was a rare late success – reaching 2.1 million PC players with an 11% share, even as it arrived on PC four years after its console debut. Other major titles like “Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection,” “The Last of Us Part I,” “Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales,” “Until Dawn,” “The Last of Us Part II,” “Days Gone,” “Returnal,” and “Sackboy: A Big Adventure” were not mentioned.
Arguably, the most glaring omission in the article is “Stellar Blade,” a third-party developed but PlayStation published title and PS5-exclusive for 14 months. Though it sold well on PS5 at over 3 million copies, it was also a hit on PC with projections on forums like NeoGaf suggesting a share as high as 39%.
No mention is also made of the impact of events in 2024 when a PlayStation Network signup briefly became mandatory to play certain titles – leading to limits on where those games could be sold and major pushback from the PC community.
Sony PlayStation has yet to officially announce any change in strategy to its PC releases, the conversation that has dominated gaming circles in recent days all ties back to a Bloomberg piece discussing Sony’s strategy.
Sony’s biggest PC port success overall has been multiplayer title “Helldivers 2,” the kind of title that won’t be impacted by this strategy shift if it’s confirmed. For now, it seems unlikely titles like “Ghost of Yotei,” “Marvel’s Wolverine” and “Saros” will be coming to PC.
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