Should Sony Release PS4 Exclusives on the PC 3 to 4 Years After Release?

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Holding games hostage to a walled garden platform should not even be a thing. It's incredibly anti consumer

But sony aren't going to bring their games to pc, as their exclusives are the only leverage they have to force people into their ecosystem
 
Why limit PC, just release it everywhere, just become thrid party. Why HBO don't broadcast their show on every channel? Thats very anti customer.

Even HBO realized that cable limits their total exposure, so they have a streaming app. It's not any different for Sony. On a net basis, they'd make a ton of money by having their games in their own PC store or even on Steam. It would cannibalize a little hardware, but the total benefit would easily outweigh the costs.
 
...and start a battle with Steam? I am not saying that Steam should dominate PC market, but Sony has a good thing going. Fighting Steam isn't part of that good thing.
Right. If they go at this, they need a more detailed plan than "put our games on PC." They've got the juggernaut of Steam alongside the other small competitors of the Windows Store, Origin, GOG, etc.
Why limit PC, just release it everywhere, just become thrid party. Why HBO don't broadcast their show on every channel? Thats very anti customer.
Netflix helping out new shows, original content and revitalizing old ones is just SOOOOO bad for consumers. Haven't you heard?
 
The only people this is anticonsumer to, are the people who were not going to buy Sony's games to begin with on the hardware they funded those games to promote, who then proceed to cry about not being able to play them. So then, why even bother catering to to those people?


Sony still have a PSN digital storefront they need to manage. They are not going to put themselves in direct competition with anyone else in order to get some sales for games.

They would sooner turn PSN into a digital storefront on PC and and sell their games through that than sell on Steam or Windows 10. And even that is very unlikely.
 
...and start a battle with Steam? I am not saying that Steam should dominate PC market, but Sony has a good thing going. Fighting Steam isn't part of that good thing.

Well right now they make 0$ when someone buys a game for PC. Might as well start making some money on the side by doing close to nothing.

They can expand the strategy to mobile as well. If you buy a game on PS4 or Sony's mobile store and its availiable on the other platform you get both.

It pretty much a third-party version of what MS is trying to do.

If you have a PC and a PS4 and you are going to buy Doom on PC, why wouldn't you give preference to Sony store if you end up getting it on the PS4 as well?

If I had an Xbox and a PC and Halo 8 was availiable on Steam or Windows 10 store with crossbuy, I would probably get it on Windows Store. Letting people build a library on your ecosystem goes a long way to attract people.
 
Can we stop with the "everything should be on PC" port begging threads?

As others have mentioned something like Demon's Souls isn't pushing the PS4 at all. Releasing it on the PC at this point won't hurt the sales of Bloodborne or any more Dark Souls games on the console.
 
Holding games hostage to a walled garden platform should not even be a thing. It's incredibly anti consumer

But sony aren't going to bring their games to pc, as their exclusives are the only leverage they have to force people into their ecosystem

Competition is anti-consumer now? Most of the first party exclusive wouldn't exist if console manufacturers didn't have the incentive to invest in studios to make games that set their platform apart from the competition.
 
Even HBO realized that cable limits their total exposure, so they have a streaming app. It's not any different for Sony. On a net basis, they'd make a ton of money by having their games in their own PC store or even on Steam. It would cannibalize a little hardware, but the total benefit would easily outweigh the costs.

A ton of money? If it was financially worth it to them they'd be there. Selling to 1-2 million PC players isn't worth the damage it would do to their console business.

These corporations are run by PROFITS. They've thought of all of this already.
 
Holding games hostage to a walled garden platform should not even be a thing. It's incredibly anti consumer

But sony aren't going to bring their games to pc, as their exclusives are the only leverage they have to force people into their ecosystem

Like Windows 10 store is not a wallet garden? Origin? Steam? Every digital store have exclusive, all anti customer.
 
I was having a talk with some friends about this. One of them brought up the point that after 3 to 4 years they've most likely made a good majority of their sales on games like Bloodborne, Infamous Second Son, Killzone SF, etc. There are tons of copies for resale in most stores for super cheap. Why not make an attempt to port some of them for the PC maybe 3 to 4 years after they originally release?
You answered your own question.

I think you're underestimating how big of a job a port is and overestimating how much the PC audience cares. Bloodborne you could make the case, but nobody on PC is frothing at the mouth to play Uncharted. Ports aren't a quick, easy, and cheap project - they're obviously not as difficult to make as a full game, but they do require significant investment.

On top of that, ports aren't guaranteed successes. Sonic Lost World sold like crap and we haven't heard anything about the other promised PC ports for Sega since then. Quantum Break wasn't saved from massively underperforming by a PC version. Harmonix tried to bring Rock Band to the PC audience and failed miserably. Despite being the spiritual successor to the massive PC success Metal Gear Rising, Transformers Devastation didn't sell nearly enough copies to justify its own existence.

This is just one of those things that would be nice but makes utterly no sense from a business perspective.
 
Except that people do. It is very common at the end of the console lifecycle. Not all consumers share your preferences.

OP: Even if Sony found your reasons compelling (which they most likely won't for the reasons laid out in this thread) they would still need to pay a developer to port the game to PC. There's no way they could get away with selling the port of a 4 year old game at full price so they'd have to believe that the amount of sales would justify the cost of the port. That alone would be the death knell of this idea.

Whilst not 4 year-old games, both Helldivers and Everybody's Gone to the Rapture were ported to PC.
 
Even HBO realized that cable limits their total exposure, so they have a streaming app. It's not any different for Sony. On a net basis, they'd make a ton of money by having their games in their own PC store or even on Steam. It would cannibalize a little hardware, but the total benefit would easily outweigh the costs.

HBO's streaming app is still THEIR platform. They have an interest in getting people to download the app, and still get subscription money. They aren't putting their shows on Netflix, which would be the comparison here. Sony has no PC client, no PC OS they are trying to shuttle people into. It's a dumb and really naive from a business standpoint to think Sony would get anything out of putting their games on PC.

Holding games hostage to a walled garden platform should not even be a thing. It's incredibly anti consumer

But sony aren't going to bring their games to pc, as their exclusives are the only leverage they have to force people into their ecosystem

lmao "hostage". McDonalds holding the Big Mac hostage and not letting Burger King sell them is pretty anti=consumer too, bro.
 
Even HBO realized that cable limits their total exposure, so they have a streaming app. It's not any different for Sony. On a net basis, they'd make a ton of money by having their games in their own PC store or even on Steam. It would cannibalize a little hardware, but the total benefit would easily outweigh the costs.

You're not just cannibalizing hardware when it comes to releasing their exclusives on PC. It's less PS+ subs and its lower PS Store revenues as you have less people buying hardware and using their store, they get 100% of first party and 30% of third party title sales. The exclusives help drive their entire ecosystem, don't think its just about the game or the hardware only.

So releasing the game on PC isn't the loss of hardware revenue versus the gain in software revenue, it's loss of hardware revenue, PS+ revenue and PS Store revenue vs gain in software revenue.
 
Even HBO realized that cable limits their total exposure, so they have a streaming app. It's not any different for Sony. On a net basis, they'd make a ton of money by having their games in their own PC store or even on Steam. It would cannibalize a little hardware, but the total benefit would easily outweigh the costs.

But most would still just go to Steam for everything else, Sony doesn't want that, they want people buying stuff on their platform, it would also eat into the PS+ Subs which is probably their biggest money maker.
 
As others have mentioned something like Demon's Souls isn't pushing the PS4 at all. Releasing it on the PC at this point won't hurt the sales of Bloodborne or any more Dark Souls games on the console.
If they're going to waste time and resources porting an old game, wouldn't it be better to port it to their own platform?
 
Holding games hostage to a walled garden platform should not even be a thing. It's incredibly anti consumer

I agree. Sony should release their games on Xbox One as well. Consumers who have bought an Xbox One console and can't play Sony games on it are getting screwed over by this big company.
 
Holding games hostage to a walled garden platform should not even be a thing. It's incredibly anti consumer

But sony aren't going to bring their games to pc, as their exclusives are the only leverage they have to force people into their ecosystem

It makes total sense in a business sense. Everyone has to realize why Sony has to keep exclusives as exclusive.

But, I'm really disappointed in some of the PSGAF here, because I get a hint of pride about the PS4 having these exclusives. Even if it's not in their best interests as a consumer and gamer.

To the point that some of you wouldn't want these exclusives to be the best they can be if it means not being an exclusive. I loved Uncharted 4 but would I play it again at 4K/60fps? Hell yes.

I don't know if it stems from childhood fanboyism or Sony fanaticism.
 
Stealth port begging thread?

Sony doesn't have to or should, they make more money remastering the game and constantly re-releasing it. Moving to PC also means there's no reason to buy a PS4 because PC will eventually get the game.
 
As others have mentioned something like Demon's Souls isn't pushing the PS4 at all. Releasing it on the PC at this point won't hurt the sales of Bloodborne or any more Dark Souls games on the console.

Who's gonna pay for the port? What developer is going to spend time and resources on it?
 
A ton of money? If it was financially worth it to them they'd be there. Selling to 1-2 million PC players isn't worth the damage it would do to their console business.

These corporations are run by PROFITS. They've thought of all of this already.

Corporations have never done anything shortsighted before, right? Want to buy a Blockbuster franchise?

The money won't be in hardware forever. Microsoft realizes this. They have a tremendous advantage by controlling the PC platform and DX12. Sony needs to start positioning themselves for the future as well, and that starts with their great games. If you think the lack of access is the only thing keeping everyone from jumping ship from your platform, then your platform isn't very strong at all.

Sony shouldn't be afraid of PC gamers. MS has made a lot of mistakes but at least they have the right idea.

But most would still just go to Steam for everything else, Sony doesn't want that, they want people buying stuff on their platform, it would also eat into the PS+ Subs which is probably their biggest money maker.

have the PS+ sub transfer over to the PC app. EA manages to make money with Origin, Sony would be no different.
 
As others have mentioned something like Demon's Souls isn't pushing the PS4 at all. Releasing it on the PC at this point won't hurt the sales of Bloodborne or any more Dark Souls games on the console.
Right. Ideally for Sony, something like Demon's Souls or another PS3 exclusive will one day push PS Now.

Because on their own, those games probably aren't worth releasing on PC. But as part of a subscription package offering many old games? Yeah. Worth.
 
As others have mentioned something like Demon's Souls isn't pushing the PS4 at all. Releasing it on the PC at this point won't hurt the sales of Bloodborne or any more Dark Souls games on the console.
It hurt sales of Demon Souls PS4 Remaster, that would also get some people to buy PS4s and join their ecosystem.
 
3 or 4 years after..i dont see the issue with it..

3 or 4 years later what would Sony get out of it? They'd still have to spend resources to create the ports, market them, distribute them...for what? Some extra pocket change? Like, realistically, if you were in charge at Sony why would you even give enough of a shit to even give this a thought?
 
Competition is anti-consumer now? Most of the first party exclusive wouldn't exist if console manufacturers didn't have the incentive to invest in studios to make games that set their platform apart from the competition.

It's kind-of competition, but not really. It's competing on products, not services. "Want to play this game, play it on PS" is not the same as "Want the best service/controller/specs buy a PS4 not an XBox"

Look at cars, and every car has the same basics - radio, speakers, reclining seats - but has different handling and speed.
 
HBO's streaming app is still THEIR platform. They have an interest in getting people to download the app, and still get subscription money. They aren't putting their shows on Netflix, which would be the comparison here. Sony has no PC client, no PC OS they are trying to shuttle people into. It's a dumb and really naive from a business standpoint to think Sony would get anything out of putting their games on PC.

They get 100% of whatever they put on their PC store, less the cost of running that storefront. You act like there aren't millions of PC gamers out there that don't own a PS4 but would buy their games. That's the only 'dumb' assumption from a business standpoint.
 
If Sony could keep their hold on the console market and could also have equal footing in the PC market, they would not hesitate to bring their games to the platform. These conditions can't be met as the PC market is clearly satisfied with what's available thus it will never happen until that changes. The idea is a nice dream to have but ultimately it has too much going against it to become a reality.
 
Holding games hostage to a walled garden platform should not even be a thing.

Considering steam's stranglehold on most of PC gaming and Valve's complete control over it, isn't this a bit ironic. I can understand the sentiment but it doesn't seem to translate into much.
 
Let's say they do launch their own PC client on Windows. Would they give the PC community the same amount of control over their applications as a game on Steam, or would it end up looking like some shitty UWP situation where control is taken away from the user?

Would they require a PS Plus subscription? How would they get third party money out of PC users?


It's just seems like a strange idea as it would go against their plan of trying to build up their own ecosystem.
 
I don't think it's that simple anymore.
Multi platform games are enormous.

Networks
Where your friends are.
Media features
Price

Etc are far more important than 1 exclusive game or series.


.

I guess we'll see how well an exclusive-free console sells with the Xbox experiment.
 
Theres positives and negatives to it. The porting processs isn't free, and it would significantly reduce the value of the console as time goes on and more of the games come to pc.

By the time the console is 5-6 years old and they can really cut down manufacture cost and sell it reliably at a profit too much of the library would be on pc.

I think they are doing a good job of dropping prices on library titles and the hardware is capable and not that expensive.
 
Even HBO realized that cable limits their total exposure, so they have a streaming app. It's not any different for Sony. On a net basis, they'd make a ton of money by having their games in their own PC store or even on Steam. It would cannibalize a little hardware, but the total benefit would easily outweigh the costs.

Exactly. And that's why PSNow is what they're going to push in the future, exactly like HBO's streaming apps. Having to rely on other people's ecosystems is a nonstarter.

They get 100% of whatever they put on their PC store, less the cost of running that storefront. You act like there aren't millions of PC gamers out there that don't own a PS4 but would buy their games. That's the only 'dumb' assumption from a business standpoint.

You want Sony to make their own PC platform? That sounds like a horrible idea. It'd be worst than UPlay.
 
Would love to not have to deal and be limited by the PS4 OS/hardware but it doesn't make any sense for Sony since they have basically no grip on PC - unlike MS.
A more realistic step would be some PSNow-esque approach with PS4 games.

Also the "muh exclusives" crowd is super amusing as always. In a perfect world everybody would be able to play what they want on which platform they want. Exclusives are merely good for forcing people to buy into an ecosystem they probably don't want to use anyway (and for list wars on forums!).
 
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