Sony‘s latest financial report has dozens of people scouring through relatively boring business-speak of ‘harmony’ and ‘maximum effort’ along with the ever-ubiquitous ‘synergy’ that is common when a corporation attempts to talk like a normal human being would without exposing themselves to lawsuits.
It’s a tedious read, at best, but feel free to slog through it with the rest of us by visiting Sony’s website and viewing the PDF for yourself, here.
Yet slog through it we must, because it can help shed a light on what the bigger players within the gaming industry are looking at doing in the near future.
From this financial report that Sony presented to shareholders, we have gleaned two very interesting aspects: first, more PlayStation exclusives will be making their way to the PC as ports, and second is that Sony wants to grow their library of exclusives.
The first point may upset a couple of PlayStation loyalists, as Horizon Zero Dawn did, but it makes sense.
Interesting info from Sony's latest financial Report
– Looking to acquire more studios to grow 1st party / PlayStation Studios
– Looking to bring more of their 1st party games to the PC platform in the future
– Large focus on increasing number of exclusive games, and advance VR pic.twitter.com/LVC1icAb0l— Benji-Sales (@BenjiSales) August 29, 2020
Inevitably, an exclusive will stop moving as quickly off of the shelves. Developers (and Sony) can then extend its lifespan by porting it over to PC, offering a ‘second release’ that can once again drum up hype and begin to move units, giving it a second wind and offering more cash for all the players at the table.
Considering that ports tend to come with all of the released DLC and fixes already included, it’s a win-win for PlayStation and PC users; we get more games, and they get to extend the natural life of a title.
Considering the massive hype surrounding the expected yet unannounced release of Persona 5 for PC, and how well Horizon Zero Dawn did on PC in spite of a few mighty stumbles, and it’s clear that there is a measurable userbase of players that want to experience PlayStation games, yet are unwilling to purchase a PlayStation console.
The first facet bleeds into the second; Sony has noted that their exclusivity has paid dividends; again, a fair statement for the sheer number of unique JRPGs that regularly visit the console, along with unique (and astonishingly immersive) experiences such as God of War and The Last Of Us.
Precisely what this could mean for the short term is promising, if vague: Sony is latching onto Microsoft’s ploy of embracing PC gamers with new experiences once their shelf-life becomes a bit stale. In order for this strategy to work, however, Sony is going to need publishers to do a bit of a better job when it comes to porting titles over; an aspect that will undoubtedly develop with time and experience.
