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[Draugoth]

Looks like cutting players from 100 countries wasn't a smart investment idea

 

[Bojanglez]

And why should they give away these games for free? (in their eyes)

To keep people in their ecosystem, provide perceived added value to a PS Store purchase.

Same reason Xbox have 'Play Anywhere'

 

[Shaki12345]

Sony has no idea what gamers really want.

 

[Guilty_AI]

Naughty Dig has a godlike budget and time to develop games, but Intergalactic barely looks any better than TLOU2. That's not because there's no more room to grow.

And pray tell me, where that "room to grow" is?

 

[ProtoByte]

And pray tell me, where that "room to grow" is?

You saw the TLOU Part II or Spider-Man or GoW CGI trailers, yes? You might've seen Marvel 1945's character models? Maybe any of the UE5 demo environments?

Something in that range. Or at least, a clear enhancement in environmental interactivity, NPC volumes and general game complexity if not in visual fidelity. But we're getting none of either.

 

[Trogdor1123]

They pioneered the concept during the Vita/PS3 era with plenty of games being cross-buy and cross-save

Do they still do it for anything? I don’t think there are any?

 

[Robb]

An account for PlayStation Network will become optional for these titles on PC

 

[Guilty_AI]

You saw the TLOU Part II or Spider-Man or GoW CGI trailers, yes? You might've seen Marvel 1945's character models? Maybe any of the UE5 demo environments?

Something in that range. Or at least, a clear enhancement in environmental interactivity, NPC volumes and general game complexity if not in visual fidelity. But we're getting none of either.

I have some unfortunate news for you then, because making a game that has everything you see in those trailers (beyond cutscenes) does require much higher budgets, longer dev cycles and workforces, those kinds of effects go beyond just having capable hardware. And also ray "shortcut" tracing or some other similar form of illumination tech, you need realistic lighting tech in order to get those visuals.

Oh, and its still not granted you'd impress people. Imagine the risks!

 

[ProtoByte]

does require much higher budgets, longer dev cycles and workforces

Then they better start delivering, because they've got all of that in spades.

 

[Guilty_AI]

Then they better start delivering, because they've got all of that in spades.

Time? Can they afford to spend 10 years in a single game? What about public, do they have large enough of a public to sell said games to with a good return of investment?

Spider Man 2 needed 7M sales to break even, imagine something that cost twice as much, took longer to make and didn't have the force of such IP behind it.

Well, i do know of a platform where they can expand to if they need a larger public to sell

 

[Magister]

So it's optional to log into PlayStation Network accounts.

I wonder if the games are still region-locked.

Still region-locked in my country. I hope they will reverse it soon or at least make new releases without region-lock.

 

[Aguero9320]

This is a good start. Now unlock the best incentive - day one releases. Thanks.

 

[BennyBlanco]

The timing of this announcement was absolutely hilarious. Freegunners across here and twitter had themselves convinced that Hermen getting demoted was the death of PC ports.

But they a good call. Nobody wants to login to play a single player game. They actually listened to gamers.

 

[Rawbutt Jellybean]

This is a good start. Now unlock the best incentive - day one releases. Thanks.

when everybody plays, we all win

 

[Fess]

Next-up:
Cross-progression

That would be awesome!
And next: Dual license. But it once, play anywhere.

 

[pudel]

Still region-locked in my country. I hope they will reverse it soon or at least make new releases without region-lock.

Maybe it takes a bit time for steam to change it back. It took them a few days to region lock them in the first place. I hope so at least.

But they a good call. Nobody wants to login to play a single player game. They actually listened to gamers.

"Good Sony" is back!

 

[rm082e]

You are missing the point, audience does not necessarily mean money. Look at money spent in apps on Android vs iOS.

PC games tend not to like to spend money on subscriptions to play online (do not have to), they tend to be more price conscious (full price titles day 1... eh...), and the revenue they get from those players per game is only 70% on their own titles and 0% on third party compared to consoles (on top of not having any service revenue).

If players reject PSN accounts they will not flock en-masse to a PlayStation PC Store either... come on...

I've bought all five major PlayStation consoles, plus the PSP and Vita. I've been playing on PlayStation since the month after the PS1 launched. But I moved to PC as my main over ten years ago because the performance is just another level beyond what the consoles can do.

I begrudgingly bought the PS4 and PS5 consoles so I could get access to a few exclusives, but I don't buy other games on the PlayStation. The idea that exclusives can be used to entice PC players into treating the PlayStation console as a platform for buying more than just the exclusives is just not aligned with reality. If we aren't paying for PSN and buying more games on that platform, then all they did was lose a little money selling us the console at a loss so they could sell us a few exclusives and not have to pay Valve their 30% cut. It's not a winning strategy. Their onw internal data proves this as it's been posted here several times.

Yes, if they go to Day 1 first party exclusives on PC like Microsoft did, then that's going to cannibalize their console sales. We all know that. But they haven't done that with any single player games. They typically have at least a 1 year exclusive window on their first party exclusives. If a PC player hasn't been enticed into buying a console to play an exclusive within the first 12 months, they're not going to be.

 

[adamsapple]

The timing of this announcement was absolutely hilarious. Freegunners across here and twitter had themselves convinced that Hermen getting demoted was the death of PC ports.

But they a good call. Nobody wants to login to play a single player game. They actually listened to gamers.

And they released the Spider Man 2 PC requirements at the same time, lol.

It's like a veritable smorgasbord of tattered hopes and dreams.

 

[Euler007]

Carrot > stick

 

[SNG32]

Will this porting PS exclusives to PC madness ends with the new management shakeup? Sony has to really evaluate everything again, make new survey and analytics if PC really is practical despite the bad sales in Pc, and if its worth it to alienate Sony PS fans and blemish Sony's image as a place for great exclusives.

Once go PC you never go back. So you better get used to it.

 

[HogIsland]

Carrot > stick

but like... we don't play games to get hit with a stick. carrot is the only option.

 

[AFBT88]

I love PC gamers LoL!

 

[Danteyke223]

Can they finally unfuck Helldivers 2 please ?

 

[Soodanim]

They want to incentivize players on PC to purchase their products, not chase them away.
That is why their titles don't even incorporate any shitty DRM for instance.

There aren't any benefits to launching a store on PC, when people are already hesitant to even create a PSN account.

Steam is where the players will be, with that platform growing each and every year.
And that is where they should be focusing their efforts, not some shitty thrown together Playstation store that nobody on PC is waiting for.

This is what I don't get. Unless you're so big that people will do whatever it takes to play your game, going it alone in order to retain the 30% Steam takes is going to make you lose more than 30% of your customer base on PC. I know it leads to losing me as a customer 100% of the time.

 

[DeepEnigma]

I don't see how this has any bearing on whether or not Sony does games on PC day one or not.

One can argue these friendly methods are to boost incentives without having to do day-and-date and sacrifice revenue from their console division.

 

[pudel]

This is what I don't get. Unless you're so big that people will do whatever it takes to play your game, going it alone in order to retain the 30% Steam takes is going to make you lose more than 30% of your customer base on PC. I know it leads to losing me as a customer 100% of the time.

Just a little side note, because I see this "30%" way too often. Steam takes different cuts depending on the revenue of a game...down to 20% (for 50mil+ revenue...which isnt much for bigger games). And I could even imagine that Sony gets an even better deal.

 

[Physiognomonics]

It is not a win on both side. Sony PS image is about exclusives since Ps1 era, that is why it sells. Principles and fan base is being killed. Then there will be no point to own a PS console. Sony is just falling to PC masters race trap and MS trap, which makes Nintendo the only platform with wisdom not to fall to that trap of porting exclusives.

 

[ProtoByte]

Time? Can they afford to spend 10 years in a single game? What about public, do they have large enough of a public to sell said games to with a good return of investment?

Spider Man 2 needed 7M sales to break even, imagine something that cost twice as much, took longer to make and didn't have the force of such IP behind it.

Well, i do know of a platform where they can expand to if they need a larger public to sell

Spider-Man 2 is a heavy asset reuse sequel that cost almost twice as much to make as the original, which was essentially a new IP on a much weaker machine. It is not longer than SM1, is not much better looking than Miles Morales or even SM1 and didn't add very much of anything in terms of mechanics.

It's not my opinion, it's outright stated in the leaks.

...is 3x the investment in [Spider-Man 2] evident to anyone who plays the game?

This is also coming from Insomniac, probably the most "efficiently" run studio in the 1st party lineup.

https://archive.is/EPPny

For what the game is, it shouldn't have cost that much. So then, the problem is clearly organizational. Btw, Totoki recognized this almost immediately. The eyes on that were focused on Bungie, but it spreads across the entirety of PS Studios, and the industry as a whole.

 

[ArtHands]

The timing of this announcement was absolutely hilarious. Freegunners across here and twitter had themselves convinced that Hermen getting demoted was the death of PC ports.

But they a good call. Nobody wants to login to play a single player game. They actually listened to gamers.

And some people laughed when I said a more aggressive multi-platform strategy will be the case with Hiroki Totoki's promotion.

 

[ArtHands]

And what about the console benefits like fuss-free easy setup, cheap price and shits that people love to throw around here?

 

[StreetsofBeige]

Watch out! Someone at Sony hire crowd control please!

All the PC gamers can’t wait to download a bonus costume to sign up to PSN.

Best bargain in gaming. A character skin probably worth $1.50.

 

[poppabk]

We know for a fact that the pipeline has already been compromised for the sake of PC porting from the Insomniac leak.

We do? What was leaked?

 

[S0ULZB0URNE]

I just want to connect my Helldivers 2 account on Steam to my PSN.
PLEASE

 

[ArtHands]

I think Playstation fans should understand this by now; on PC, Sony is the one who has to do the bowing and listening to the players, not the other way round. They are a mere 3rd party publisher here.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

I think Playstation fans should understand this by now; on PC, Sony is the one who has to do the bowing and listening to the players, not the other way round. They are a mere 3rd party publisher here.

Pretty much. Aside from H2, their games flop on PC compared to on PS. It’s crazy how low some of the CCUs are on steam.

 

[Topher]

I think Playstation fans should understand this by now; on PC, Sony is the one who has to do the bowing and listening to the players, not the other way round. They are a mere 3rd party publisher here.

And they did listen to the players. So......

 

[Halo2redvsblue]

James LOST this bet

 

[HogIsland]

Pretty much. Aside from H2, their games flop on PC compared to on PS. It’s crazy how low some of the CCUs are on steam.

it's crazy to compare 2-3 year old, undermarketed catalog titles with brand new PS launches. nevertheless, these are not small numbers (per the insomniac leak):

Ports that cost only a couple million dollars (and approved via email) are generating a couple million sales. If you don't think Sony is happy about this money, we're not living on the same planet.

 

[Danny22]

This is irrelevant because they're still not selling the games in 170 countries looking at Spiderman 2 page on steam. They're leaving about 50 percent of sales on the table.

And given the TLOU show, the 2nd game might have become their top singleplayer ccu if it wasn't for the 170 country ban. It still might but not to the same extent.

 

[DaciaJC]

https://blog.playstation.com/2025/0...incentives-coming-to-playstation-games-on-pc/


“Starting with tomorrow’s release of Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 for PC, we’re working to add more benefits to playing with an account for PlayStation Network. The Last of Us Part II Remastered(coming April 3, 2025), in addition to God of War Ragnarök and Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered, will all soon be adding in-game content unlocks for PlayStation Network account users.

An account for PlayStation Network will become optional for these titles on PC. Players who still opt to sign into a PlayStation Network account will also enjoy added benefits like trophies and friend management.”


Hmm, how about that, the PC community continues to demonstrate that standing up to stupid corporate bullshit can, in fact, achieve results.

 

[panda-zebra]

https://www.neogaf.com/threads/psblog-new-in-game-content-incentives-coming-to-playstation-games-on-pc-psn-account-linking-becomes-optional-for-sm2-gow-r-hzd-r-tlou2-r.1680178/

 

[MiguelItUp]

I honestly had no problem with the account thing, I mean, it made sense for trophy tracking and then some. But it's neat to see them do this, I honestly wasn't expecting them to at all.

 

[DaciaJC]

https://www.neogaf.com/threads/psblog-new-in-game-content-incentives-coming-to-playstation-games-on-pc-psn-account-linking-becomes-optional-for-sm2-gow-r-hzd-r-tlou2-r.1680178/

Ah, thanks, didn’t come across this on my search. Mods can close this.

 

[Gameplay Gods Bless]

https://blog.playstation.com/2025/0...incentives-coming-to-playstation-games-on-pc/


“Starting with tomorrow’s release of Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 for PC, we’re working to add more benefits to playing with an account for PlayStation Network. The Last of Us Part II Remastered(coming April 3, 2025), in addition to God of War Ragnarök and Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered, will all soon be adding in-game content unlocks for PlayStation Network account users.

An account for PlayStation Network will become optional for these titles on PC. Players who still opt to sign into a PlayStation Network account will also enjoy added benefits like trophies and friend management.”


Hmm, how about that, the PC community continues to demonstrate that standing up to stupid corporate bullshit can, in fact, achieve results.

Wtf? Holy shit PC gamers can't stop winning.

 

[SnakeB]

 

[{insert code here}]

How about they port some more of their titles (Gran Turismo, Gravity Rush, Shadow of the Colossus, Demon's Souls, Uncharted Trilogy, Killzone, Motorstorm, infamous) and build up a bigger presence first before trying to sell users on a PSN account.

 

[kevboard]

https://blog.playstation.com/2025/0...incentives-coming-to-playstation-games-on-pc/


“Starting with tomorrow’s release of Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 for PC, we’re working to add more benefits to playing with an account for PlayStation Network. The Last of Us Part II Remastered(coming April 3, 2025), in addition to God of War Ragnarök and Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered, will all soon be adding in-game content unlocks for PlayStation Network account users.

An account for PlayStation Network will become optional for these titles on PC. Players who still opt to sign into a PlayStation Network account will also enjoy added benefits like trophies and friend management.”


Hmm, how about that, the PC community continues to demonstrate that standing up to stupid corporate bullshit can, in fact, achieve results.

you're basically activating an instand unlock cheat by connecting your account lol.
that's kinda weird since part of Spider-Man 2's carrots on a stick, so to speak, are the unlockable costumes...
so they just give you 2 of them automatically if you sign in... lowering the amount of stuff to unlock through gameplay...

I always found stuff like this weird. like when games do this for preorder bonuses, or special edition bonuses.

 

[mckmas8808]

I don't understand Sony's strategy, Spiderman 2 is already out on PC and they barely promote it or do anything, it's absurd, if you're going to release it, do it right.

And it's broken. Why release it in this state when it's clearly not ready and you don't want to promote it?

 

[Ozriel]

You saw the TLOU Part II or Spider-Man or GoW CGI trailers, yes? You might've seen Marvel 1945's character models? Maybe any of the UE5 demo environments?

Something in that range. Or at least, a clear enhancement in environmental interactivity, NPC volumes and general game complexity if not in visual fidelity. But we're getting none of either.

How exactly do you know this?

 

[YeulEmeralda]

I've bought all five major PlayStation consoles, plus the PSP and Vita. I've been playing on PlayStation since the month after the PS1 launched. But I moved to PC as my main over ten years ago because the performance is just another level beyond what the consoles can do.

I begrudgingly bought the PS4 and PS5 consoles so I could get access to a few exclusives, but I don't buy other games on the PlayStation. The idea that exclusives can be used to entice PC players into treating the PlayStation console as a platform for buying more than just the exclusives is just not aligned with reality. If we aren't paying for PSN and buying more games on that platform, then all they did was lose a little money selling us the console at a loss so they could sell us a few exclusives and not have to pay Valve their 30% cut. It's not a winning strategy. Their onw internal data proves this as it's been posted here several times.

Yes, if they go to Day 1 first party exclusives on PC like Microsoft did, then that's going to cannibalize their console sales. We all know that. But they haven't done that with any single player games. They typically have at least a 1 year exclusive window on their first party exclusives. If a PC player hasn't been enticed into buying a console to play an exclusive within the first 12 months, they're not going to be.

Let's be real Sony first party has never been on the cultural level of Zelda or Pokémon.