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[Ozriel]

I still don't see an argument that shows why 3rd party publishers wouldn't jump at royalty deals with Sony to support a PC store.

Epic is offering generous royalty deals too. Still doesn’t stop a ton of 3rd party publishers from skipping the store entirely.

Sony is going day and date on PC because there is a larger userbase on PC, but I don't think your argument holds water. They could also put the game on Xbox if ALL they wanted was a larger community. They release it on Steam because they don't have a PC storefront yet, that doesn't mean they will continue to support Steam post PC Storefront.

They release it on Steam because they want a larger community without harming their exclusivity strategy with respect to console. Disingenuous of you to bring up the Xbox thingy here.

 

[Mibu no ookami]

Epic is offering generous royalty deals too. Still doesn’t stop a ton of 3rd party publishers from skipping the store entirely.



They release it on Steam because they want a larger community without harming their exclusivity strategy with respect to console. Disingenuous of you to bring up the Xbox thingy here.

Epic is offering royalty deals on the PC games, where there is no guarantee for them to sell. Sony can offer royalty deals on games that appear on both PS5 and PC.

Epic is also super difficult to work with in terms of publishing games on their store from what I've seen.

It's the same thing. If they have a storefront on PC, wouldn't releasing it on Steam hurt their exclusivity strategy with respect to PC?

If you release a game on both steam and playstation store pc, you're giving someone the option to not buy it on the playstation store pc, just as you would be if you released a game on xbox.

How is it disingenuous at all?

 

[Senua]

I don't think there's any way Sony wouldn't have success with their own PC store front, if implemented correctly and if given enough time to gestate. If you have amazing exclusive games, like Sony does, the gamers will simply click a different store front. It's not that hard.

It's not hard, the problem is no one wants to do that. PC gamers have their entire library in one place and that's how they want it. Steam is THE PC storefront, all others have, and will fail.

You also greatly exaggerate the pull that modern Sony games have to the PC audience.

 

[Gaiff]

This is where I think Sony buys FromSoftware/Kadokawa and makes Elden Ring 2 exclusive on their storefront.

I don't think people consider why things fail just that they failed and assume that because others have failed anyone and everyone will fail.

I keep hearing the same arguments that Sony doesn't have enough titles, ignoring that they'll have 3rd party support, someone everyone else has struggled with.

I think the first party support for Sony is bigger collectively than Epic, Microsoft, or CD Projekt. I think it's bigger than any individual publisher today.

None of that post makes any sense. Elden Ring exclusive to a Sony storefront? Not happening.

As for third-party games, Sony would have to pay the publishers 10s of millions for exclusivity deals. Epic tried and that didn’t even move the needle, even with their weekly free games programs that has been going on for years.

Unless Sony can make a fantastic storefront that rivals or beats Steam, they’ll fail without a doubt, and that’s easier said than done considering their own storefront is still ass.

 

[Gojiira]

Honestly its a terrible idea, the investment necessary to not only support said storefront plus compete with Steam is just a waste…
Nobody will jump ship, and the money saved by not trying to compete in a monopoly an go towards their first party output etc.

 

[Braag]

I wonder how much is the upkeep cost of such a storefront. Seeing Epic's huge losses on their storefront, it doesn't seem cheap, but they do have the money to burn.
I mean you need to have devs who not only create the storefront but also upkeep it, then you also have the server costs. And you essentially have to start gathering users there any way possible.

 

[Atcha]

It may be a good things... but playstation will say bye bye to their playstation plus online business model ...
Maybe they can keep it but they can forget the online gaming paywall.

If sony wants to expands the playstation experience : cloud gaming and also Pc Gaming are the way ...

 

[SmokedMeat]

They aren't going to sell PSVR2 on PC and not port these games over and they aren't going to keep selling these games through Steam just to hand over 20-30 percent of their revenue to Valve.

Epic only has Fortnite and while it's a major game, they don't have enough continued support to bring in enough users.


Steam has never really had real competition before. CDPR and Epic were both too small to compete.

Uh…yeah they are.

Epic doesn’t have enough continued support to bring in enough users? Why do you think that is?

Epic is too small to compete?? Epic? Too small??

You’re conveniently leaving out Microsoft, who has floundered just as Sony would.

The concept of a Sony store on PC, is merely a console fanboy wish. It’s fantasy, because you’re so worried about Sony’s cut. Meanwhile Sony doesn’t give a shit, and is doing what’s best for them - not what’s best for you.

 

[SmokedMeat]

This is where I think Sony buys FromSoftware/Kadokawa and makes Elden Ring 2 exclusive on their storefront.

I don't think people consider why things fail just that they failed and assume that because others have failed anyone and everyone will fail.

The irony of your second paragraph, while saying Sony should make Elden Ring 2 exclusive to their PC Store.
You’re literally calling for Sony to use the same tactic that Epic tried with the PC gaming audience - and failed miserably. Even when giving away well over a hundred free games, unlimited additional coupons and discounts out of Tim’s own pockets he’s failed.
You think Sony would fare differently just because they make God of War? Because they make Spiderman? Last of Us? You really think those are must haves to the PC audience?

Your thinking that the PC audience is just like the PlayStation audience is your first mistake.

 

[Mibu no ookami]

Uh…yeah they are.

Epic doesn’t have enough continued support to bring in enough users? Why do you think that is?

Epic is too small to compete?? Epic? Too small??

You’re conveniently leaving out Microsoft, who has floundered just as Sony would.

The concept of a Sony store on PC, is merely a console fanboy wish. It’s fantasy, because you’re so worried about Sony’s cut. Meanwhile Sony doesn’t give a shit, and is doing what’s best for them - not what’s best for you.

Again, why doesn't Sony release their games on Xbox and Switch?

Epic doesn't make a lot of games. They've even given up on Unreal/Tournament. They have one game, albeit a large one, the vast majority of their base does not play on PC.

Microsoft floundered in a lot of spaces, not sure how that is relevant. They floundered in console gaming too. Does that mean Sony will flounder in console gaming as well... or is that how reality works?


Seems more like Steam fanboys denying reality that of course Sony is going to try this. I have no interest in PC gaming and won't use a sony pc store. My interest in this is simply from a business perspective. So I can tell who the real fanboys are here...

 

[Mibu no ookami]

The irony of your second paragraph, while saying Sony should make Elden Ring 2 exclusive to their PC Store.
You’re literally calling for Sony to use the same tactic that Epic tried with the PC gaming audience - and failed miserably. Even when giving away well over a hundred free games, unlimited additional coupons and discounts out of Tim’s own pockets he’s failed.
You think Sony would fare differently just because they make God of War? Because they make Spiderman? Last of Us? You really think those are must haves to the PC audience?

Your thinking that the PC audience is just like the PlayStation audience is your first mistake.

Is it the same strategy?

You don't know the difference between buying an exclusive and buying a company and making a game exclusive?

Epic is struggling because they're bleeding money. Sony doesn't have to bleed money and buying Kadokawa/FromSoftware for which they already have shares would not be the equivalent.

I think Sony has a multitude of games and studios AND 3rd party support.

Please explain why the PSP succeeded when EVERY other handheld not released by nintendo failed... can you?

"You're thinking that the handheld audience is just like the playstation audience is your first mistake"

 

[Guilty_AI]

The more i read OP's takes, the more i'm convinced he's just one of the fanboys still salty over playstation releasing games on PC.

>This is where I think Sony buys FromSoftware/Kadokawa and makes Elden Ring 2 exclusive on their storefront.

?? What?

CDPR and Epic were both too small to compete.

??????? Epic is worth 3x Valve

What Epic and Microsoft both have in common is a lack of 3rd party support

??????????? Epic literally owns the biggest third party engine in the market and they fully leveraged that when making their store

If the worst result for Sony is they get 5 users and a place where they can sell their games without paying Valve royalties, it'll be a success for them.

?????????????????????????????? Selling 5 copies is better than selling 1M just because they don't pay fees???? How does this make any sense???????

They don't need to do gangbusters on handheld and PC, all they need to do is be profitable to improve margins. Console is still the main bread and butter.

???? Doesn't that just further proves they don't have to bother making a PC storefront?

 

[Elysium44]

Seems more like Steam fanboys denying reality that of course Sony is going to try this. I have no interest in PC gaming and won't use a sony pc store. My interest in this is simply from a business perspective. So I can tell who the real fanboys are here...

Are the fanboys in the room with us now? I'm looking at it from a business perspective too, and I think everyone here critical of the idea is the same.

From a self-interest perspective I'd be happy to use a Sony PC store if I could buy stuff like Gran Turismo 7 and cross-play with PS4/5 owners without having to pay for online, and other PS5 games (not that there are many, really). There would be some interest, but I just don't think it would be anywhere near enough to be profitable for Sony. It is a non-starter.

 

[Mibu no ookami]

Are the fanboys in the room with us now? I'm looking at it from a business perspective too, and I think everyone here critical of the idea is the same.

From a self-interest perspective I'd be happy to use a Sony PC store if I could buy stuff like Gran Turismo 7 and cross-play with PS4/5 owners without having to pay for online, and other PS5 games (not that there are many, really). There would be some interest, but I just don't think it would be anywhere near enough to be profitable for Sony. It is a non-starter.

It's interesting as I've brought this up a multitude of times, but no one has explained to me why the PSP was successful after a slew of failed handheld attempts.

Everyone is critical of it? Look at the poll.

 

[Elysium44]

It's interesting as I've brought this up a multitude of times, but no one has explained to me why the PSP was successful after a slew of failed handheld attempts.

Everyone is critical of it? Look at the poll.

Perhaps English isn't your first language but please read what I wrote more carefully, 'everyone critical of the idea' means everyone WHO IS critical of it, is doing so based on the viability of it from a business perspective, rather than fanboyism.

 

[SmokedMeat]

Seems more like Steam fanboys denying reality that of course Sony is going to try this. I have no interest in PC gaming and won't use a sony pc store. My interest in this is simply from a business perspective. So I can tell who the real fanboys are here...

Right. You have no idea what you’re talking about, and just assume that what works on consoles will work on PC.

That needing big first party games matters on PC the way it does on consoles. Hint: it doesn’t.

From a business perspective Sony knows what’s best for Sony. They understand it’s a different audience.

 

[Mibu no ookami]

Perhaps English isn't your first language but please read what I wrote more carefully, 'everyone critical of the idea' means everyone WHO IS critical of it, is doing so based on the viability of it from a business perspective, rather than fanboyism.

That's certainly not the case and if english was your first language you'd read comments where people say that they would refuse to play games if sony released games exclusively on their own store. That's not a business response, that's fanboyism.

 

[Mibu no ookami]

Right. You have no idea what you’re talking about, and just assume that what works on consoles will work on PC.

That needing big first party games matters on PC the way it does on consoles. Hint: it doesn’t.

From a business perspective Sony knows what’s best for Sony. They understand it’s a different audience.

You still refuse to explain the PSP, it's getting hilarious at this point.

 

[Guilty_AI]

I have no interest in PC gaming and won't use a sony pc store. My interest in this is simply from a business perspective. So I can tell who the real fanboys are here...

Dude you didn't even bother double checking essential information for your takes. Don't come with this "business perspective" bullshit.

I have no interest in PC gaming

We can see that as you seem to understand absolutely nothing about the PC ecosystem.

 

[Mibu no ookami]

Dude you didn't even bother double checking essential information for your takes. Don't come with this "business perspective" bullshit.


We can see that as you seem to understand absolutely nothing about the PC ecosystem.

I normally have you on ignore, but I was curious.

Me having no interest in PC gaming doesn't mean I haven't played anything on PC.

I've played PC games since the 90s. I have a steam account and I have a small library of steam games, that I largely do not play anymore.

My point is that my interest in PC gaming, which is essentially zero, has nothing to do with the topic.

We could be talking about streaming video services or electric cars... it doesn't matter, but it IS clear from the response from many here that there is a visceral fear that Sony is going to do what is pretty obvious that they are going to do.

 

[David B]

No. Sony is already committed to PS1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 and all have copyrighted already by Sony a few years ago. Yes Sony exclusive games go to PC but after 2 years. There is PlayStation app for PC to stream some PS games though.

 

[SmokedMeat]

It's interesting as I've brought this up a multitude of times, but no one has explained to me why the PSP was successful after a slew of failed handheld attempts.

Everyone is critical of it? Look at the poll.

Piracy was easy as fuck, that’s why. So was emulation.

So while hardware sales were great, PSP software sales were terrible. Is that truly a big success?

How did the follow up do? Vita not worth bringing up?

You said Epic’s bleeding money, yet can’t be bothered to ask yourself why they’re bleeding money.

You say you’re interested in the business side of things while not bothering to learn anything about the PC business.

 

[Mibu no ookami]

 

[Mibu no ookami]

Piracy was easy as fuck, that’s why. So was emulation.

So while hardware sales were great, PSP software sales were terrible. Is that truly a big success?

You said Epic’s bleeding money, yet can’t be bothered to ask yourself why they’re bleeding money.

You say you’re interested in the business side of things while not bothering to learn anything about the PC business.

Piracy was a problem on PSP, but it was not as common as you would think. The average person wasn't pirating their PSP games.

Software sales weren't terrible on PSP either. They dried up towards the end but many games sold extremely well. So there goes that answer for you.

I've already said Epic is bleeding money by buying exclusivity and giving away free games.

I know about the PC business, though your straw man argument would rather I didn't.

 

[Guilty_AI]

We could be talking about streaming video services or electric cars... it doesn't matter, but it IS clear from the response from many here that there is a visceral fear that Sony is going to do what is pretty obvious that they are going to do.

Your "business perspective" somehow says selling 5 copies of a game is better than selling thousands just because you don't have to pay a 20-30% fee, get the fuck out with that bullshit. You were even calling Epic Games "small" in OP despite it being 3x larger than Valve, its plain as day you have no clue what you're discussing here.

 

[Mibu no ookami]

Your "business perspective" somehow says selling 5 copies of a game is better than selling thousands just because you don't have to pay a 20-30% fee, get the fuck out with that bullshit. You were even calling Epic Games "small" in OP despite it being 3x larger than Valve, its plain as day you have no clue what you're discussing here.

Let's respond to your strawman arguments although will probably be the last one. I have you on ignore for a reason.

• Selling 5 copies vs selling thousands. Because that's an accurate assessment of sales of games off of Steam
  • Why do Fortnite, Roblox, Minecraft all sell in the millions off of Steam?
• Epic Games is small in the PC Storefront space. They're 3x larger than Valve? From what revenue, from Unreal Engine not their storefront.
  • Is Microsoft bigger than Sony? In Video Games? No, they're smaller and everyone understands that without that being broken down for them.
• The irony of you telling others that they have no clue what they're discussing when you just presented two laughable strawman arguments.

 

[SmokedMeat]

Piracy was a problem on PSP, but it was not as common as you would think. The average person wasn't pirating their PSP games.

Software sales weren't terrible on PSP either. They dried up towards the end but many games sold extremely well. So there goes that answer for you.

I've already said Epic is bleeding money by buying exclusivity and giving away free games.

I know about the PC business, though your straw man argument would rather I didn't.

PSP software sales were abysmal. For a handheld that moved 70 million units, they were dogshit.
It was a piracy machine. No hardware modifications needed, you merely downloaded the programs, and then the games. Easy as fuck.

Ok, you admitted Epic’s bleeding money giving away free games and discounts.

Now tell us why they’re doing all of this?

Tell me this. What makes you think Sony’s first party games are so important to PC users, that they’d flock to a Sony Store over Steam? We’ve all seen how their games have sold.

 

[Mibu no ookami]

I get it the PSP makes this anti-Sony argument really difficult.

The best selling handheld before the PSP made by someone who wasn't Nintendo was the game gear.

It sold 10.62 million vs the PSP which sold over 80 million.

The poor argument that piracy is the reason why the PSP sold so well, yet piracy was rampant on the Dreamcast and they couldn't outsell the PS1 during the same duration. The Dreamcast sold 9.13 million units... so much for the piracy sells the hardware argument.

 

[Mibu no ookami]

PSP software sales were abysmal. For a handheld that moved 70 million units, they were dogshit.
It was a piracy machine. No hardware modifications needed, you merely downloaded the programs, and then the games. Easy as fuck.

Ok, you admitted Epic’s bleeding money giving away free games and discounts.

Now tell us why they’re doing all of this?

Tell me this. What makes you think Sony’s first party games are so important to PC users, that they’d flock to a Sony Store over Steam? We’ve all seen how their games have sold.

I've already refuted your poor PSP argument. Again, explain the Dreamcast's poor sales. No hardware modification was needed to pirate the dreamcast either. Easy as F, even easier than the PSP because you could do it on any Dreamcast without worrying about firmware.

I've already said why Epic is doing it, because they struggle with 3rd party support and have no steady stream of games. Your argument remains that a PS storefront is entirely dependent on Sony's first party games, which is a strawman, because they won't be.

 

[Guilty_AI]

Epic Games is small in the PC Storefront space. They're 3x larger than Valve? From what revenue, from Unreal Engine not their storefront.

Now you're rendering your whole point void because, technically speaking, Sony is also "small" on the PC storefront space when compared to Steam.

You can't even keep a consistent argument, just put me on ignore again and save me the headache of having to deal with you in the future by accident.

 

[SmokedMeat]

I've already said why Epic is doing it, because they struggle with 3rd party support and have no steady stream of games. Your argument remains that a PS storefront is entirely dependent on Sony's first party games, which is a strawman, because they won't be.

Epic’s bleeding money because they struggle with third party support?!!

That just confirms you’ve no idea about anything on the PC side of things.

I’m not even going to address the absurdity of bringing Dreamcast into this lol. I guess you know nothing about that either.

I’m just going to leave you with this. Keep beating your drum, because Sony knows their business better than you. They understand the PC market, while you do not. They’ve done their homework, while you haven’t.

 

[Drew1440]

I doubt a full-blown store is coming, really just a launcher that will connect with your PSN to sync trophies and possibly crossplay with PS5.

 

[Rubim]

This seem to be the most dumb take i saw in a while.

Sony brings something unique to the space as a publisher and an existing Storefront.
I will have whatever drugs you're having.

 

[Mibu no ookami]

Epic’s bleeding money because they struggle with third party support?!!

That just confirms you’ve no idea about anything on the PC side of things.

I’m not even going to address the absurdity of bringing Dreamcast into this lol. I guess you know nothing about that either.

I’m just going to leave you with this. Keep beating your drum, because Sony knows their business better than you. They understand the PC market, while you do not. They’ve done their homework, while you haven’t.

LOL, you sound pretty soundly beaten.

Tim Sweeney is on the record as to why they're bleeding money. I guess he doesn't know the PC side of things either. Got it.

You say the PSP sold well because of piracy. I refute the claim, and cite the Dreamcast which was even easier to pirate, and you say bringing it up is absurd because it blows up your argument. Got it.

So when they do release a PC storefront, what are you going to say exactly? You'll just say that they haven't done their homework. And if it starts generating profit for them... you know... you just won't say anything.

 

[Mibu no ookami]

SmokedMeat was the same person who was wrong when it came to GamePass and GaaS.

 

[Boss Mog]

I'm genuinely surprised they haven't done so already. I guess they like giving Valve money.

 

[Elysium44]

I'm genuinely surprised they haven't done so already. I guess they like giving Valve money.

Why doesn't Capcom make its own PC store, I guess they just like giving Valve money.

All the others who didn't like giving Valve money, like Microsoft, EA and Ubisoft tried making their own stores, or using Epic. All failed.

 

[StereoVsn]

Anyone thinking that Sony having its own exclusive storefront on PC will result in higher Sony sales for these games vs Steam is delusional.

How many times does it need to be proven that this simply won’t happen. EA, Ubisoft, etc… all tried.

I think it’s certainly possible that Sony will take a swing at an exclusive storefront. That will once again result in lower than expected sales. Yes, they will get 100% of revenue vs 80% or so from Steam.

Yet it isn’t really worth it if sales will be lower, they have to pay for store development, maintenance, updates and so on? I guess we shall see.

 

[David B]

I'm genuinely surprised they haven't done so already. I guess they like giving Valve money.

Yeah I suppose. Sony could just go take the games off Valve, we will make PS PC platform and you must pay us 60 dollars for online with our games.

 

[RGB'D]

Yeesh. That absolutely the last thing I want. Keep them coming to steam. I'm hoping I can avoid all the console walled gardens next gen. I want MS to integrate gamepass into steam and PS better continue to use steam as their method of PC distribution. I don't feel they have the expertise or investment to maintain a quality PC storefront given their emphasis on console. Resources would have to give somewhere and the workforces are shrinking currently, not expanding

 

[RGB'D]

No. Sony is already committed to PS1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 and all have copyrighted already by Sony a few years ago. Yes Sony exclusive games go to PC but after 2 years. There is PlayStation app for PC to stream some PS games though.

SONY is telling people at every turn, with their actions and words that they are trying to expand their business because their model as usual is not cutting it. They are the top spot in a sector that has stagnated in growth for years and is slightly declining. PC gaming is actually growing and pretty significantly (especially internationally and with younger generations). You can delude yourself if you want but day and date expansion into PC (as seen by Helldivers 2) is their future. It just better not be in their own storefront exclusively. If they want to make one (that I won't use) and still release on steam then go for it but only with steam parity.

 

[CJ_75]

There is no doubt and never have been. It is just too early. Sony just don’t have enough PC games (yet) to sell them on their own store.
Except Sackboy and Helldivers, I own all PlayStation PC LLC games. It is just not enough and porting takes time.
Nixxes, currently the most capable and reliable pc porthouse, is able to port 2 games a year if I am correct.

Sony can sell thirdparty games as well but first they need to offer something better than Epic, GOG or Steam.
But that is just a matter of time. They will end up having a nice library of PC games at launch, they will add trophies and may offer PlayStation Plus PC like service such as Gamepass PC as well.

 

[Boss Mog]

Why doesn't Capcom make its own PC store, I guess they just like giving Valve money.

All the others who didn't like giving Valve money, like Microsoft, EA and Ubisoft tried making their own stores, or using Epic. All failed.

Apple and Oranges. Capcom, EA and Ubisoft are not platform holders. Sony has an opportunity to bridge PlayStation and PC by making one account that works across both platforms. The PlayStation brand is extremely popular worldwide. Cross-play, cross-save, cross-buy, the possibilities are enticing. They could easily fill their store with 3rd party software as they could simply mandate that in order for a game to be sold on the PS console store any PC version (present or future) must also be sold on PS PC store. That's not something that the likes of EA, Ubisoft or even Epic can do. They could also extend PS+ Extra and Premium to PC. I'm sure they wouldn't have much trouble convincing people to give them a shot, particularly current PS gamers.

 

[ReBurn]

A lot of assumptions that you laid up there.

Let's break down where you get things wrong:

• While Horizon is currently 50 dollars, the cheapest it has been officially on Steam is 12.49. It's never been 12.49 on PS Store to my knowledge. This routine deep price cuts are largely unique to PC and it is the primary reason why PC games do high numbers in unit sales, but less in revenue than Console. That being said as I mentioned before, that can still go along way towards recouping development costs.
• The costs involved in running a PC Storefront for Sony is going to be cheaper than most companies. They're already running a storefront that is on PC. The PlayStation website. The cost to add skus is negligible. What you're referring to is the cost to create and maintain a PC launcher.
  • The revenue saved from not giving Steam a 20% cut of their software sales would more than make up the costs of running a launcher. The revenue from Spider-Man 2 alone could probably cover this.
• Sony doesn't need to copy Epic's failed model.
  • If I were Sony, I would bundle PS+ Premium with Crunchyroll and offer 1 free PC game per month. That's going to get a lot traction than buying a multitude of games every month.
• Ask yourself if Epic, EA, or Ubisoft could launch a console tomorrow with only their games selling it.
• Sony has a massive advantage of being able to leverage 3rd party support from their console.
• Sony's first party games are all single player games? What's the top game out right now? It's Helldivers 2, which checks notes... is multiplayer.
  • MLB the Show... multiplayer. Gran Turismo... multiplayer. Fairgames multiplayer, Concord, multiplayer, Destiny, multiplayer, Marathon, multiplayer, the rumored Twisted Metal Game, multiplayer, the Horizon MMO, multiplayer...
    • Sony actually has a long history with multiplayer. Just because they leaned into their success with single player games with the PS4 doesn't mean they can't do multiplayer. The biggest reason they focused on single player was because the PS3 was so behind the 360 when it came to online play.

Maybe you guys just need to study more businesses to open your imagination. Look at MoviePass which was a failure and look at AMC A-List which has been a huge success. Look at why one was doomed to fail even though the other one had a great chance at succeeding. Look at why the PSP was a success while every other handheld failed. Look at why the Vita failed despite the PSP being successful.

Your arguments are baked into thinking that a company has to follow the same model as another company that has already failed or that two companies using the same model are guaranteed the same results and that dominant market leaders always stay dominant.

Sony can also be successful by embracing gaming on Mac, something Steam has really struggled with.

Success for Sony on PC might just mean expanding PS+ subscribership or converting unpaid Crunchyroll users to paid.

By the end of the decade I guarantee you that sony will have a home console, a handheld, and a PC launcher.

Your posts in this thread are assumption and speculation as well, so it's weird to see you call someone else out for it. Pretty much this whole comment is a speculative narrative you made up to make your point. As there is no Sony PC Storefront all we can do is make assumptions because there are no facts to support that It will succeed.

There are many different ways a Sony PC storefront could go. But I think it's safer to assume that it's going to go like other storefronts do when they go up against the established leaders in the PC space than it is to assume that Sony can take the lead with a new storefront because they've made good console games in the past and they sold a lot of PSP's. If Sony wants to sell games to PC gamers they're going to have to sell into the places where PC gamers buy from. I don't see a console-style exclusive sales model working on an open platform. "But it's Sony" just isn't enough.

 

[DrFigs]

SONY is telling people at every turn, with their actions and words that they are trying to expand their business because their model as usual is not cutting it. They are the top spot in a sector that has stagnated in growth for years and is slightly declining. PC gaming is actually growing and pretty significantly (especially internationally and with younger generations). You can delude yourself if you want but day and date expansion into PC (as seen by Helldivers 2) is their future. It just better not be in their own storefront exclusively. If they want to make one (that I won't use) and still release on steam then go for it but only with steam parity.

So you think Playstation will basically become a third party publisher, meanwhile steam and xbox have pc storefronts. why wouldn't they try to compete, considering they're one of the largest platform holders?

 

[Lillie]

Steam gaming WON. They know it would be lost $ if they succumbed to a PC port and didn't bother going on Steam. Therefore, the only logical thing to do would be to copy Microsoft and release it on both their own pc 'Playstation/Sony' store app and also simultaneously on Steam

 

[Elysium44]

Apple and Oranges. Capcom, EA and Ubisoft are not platform holders. Sony has an opportunity to bridge PlayStation and PC by making one account that works across both platforms. The PlayStation brand is extremely popular worldwide. Cross-play, cross-save, cross-buy, the possibilities are enticing. They could easily fill their store with 3rd party software as they could simply mandate that in order for a game to be sold on the PS console store any PC version (present or future) must also be sold on PS PC store. That's not something that the likes of EA, Ubisoft or even Epic can do. They could also extend PS+ Extra and Premium to PC. I'm sure they wouldn't have much trouble convincing people to give them a shot, particularly current PS gamers.

The PlayStation console is popular... with people who buy consoles. The games on PlayStation which are most popular are third party games, which can currently be played on PC without having anything to do with Sony. I see you also missed out Microsoft who are a platform holder and are unimaginably rich compared to Sony, and they couldn't make their own store on PC a success. It limps on solely because they continue to try and make PC game pass a thing, which will no doubt end up going the same way as GFWL and the Windows Phone store.

 

[Senua]

I'm genuinely surprised they haven't done so already. I guess they like giving Valve money.

They wana sell games to the largest audience on PC by a country mile.

 

[Mibu no ookami]

Your posts in this thread are assumption and speculation as well, so it's weird to see you call someone else out for it. Pretty much this whole comment is a speculative narrative you made up to make your point. As there is no Sony PC Storefront all we can do is make assumptions because there are no facts to support that It will succeed.

There are many different ways a Sony PC storefront could go. But I think it's safer to assume that it's going to go like other storefronts do when they go up against the established leaders in the PC space than it is to assume that Sony can take the lead with a new storefront because they've made good console games in the past and they sold a lot of PSP's. If Sony wants to sell games to PC gamers they're going to have to sell into the places where PC gamers buy from. I don't see a console-style exclusive sales model working on an open platform. "But it's Sony" just isn't enough.

Another strawman.

1. Again, I'm not even stating that a Sony store would necessarily be successful, rather that the odds of one happening are high.
2. The larger assumption is that it would fail because others have failed but with no analysis of the actual situation. Which is again why I've asked repeatedly for an analysis as to why the PSP was successful and why people have largely avoided answering. The one person who tried to answer gave a really poor answer for its success.

"It's Sony" isn't the argument. The argument is that Sony has the ability to leverage an entire console storefront, significant royalties/revenue, AND their first party software support.

Out of all the other companies, none of them check all of those boxes and the boxes they do check, they don't check nearly as thoroughly as Sony.

I think it's somewhat humorous that Sony has successfully taken on Nintendo, Sega, and Microsoft in the console space, Nintendo once in the handheld space, but people are arguing that Sony has no chance at taking on Valve in the PC space.

Sony has already done things that numerous companies have failed at but more importantly their current position gives them a massive leg up and they don't have the same barriers of entry.

When looking at the streaming services and which ones are successful and which ones aren't, you also look at a future state. Some of these streaming services are going to outright fail and some are going to be successful outside of Netflix. A proper analysis of strengths and weaknesses will show that they're not all the same.

Anyone comparing Sony and EA or Sony and Ubisoft isn't making a sensible analysis. These companies were no more likely to have a successful PC storefront than they would having their own console.

 

[Little Chicken]

Any form of timed exclusivity for their store front would be an awful idea and something I expect them to be considering.