Shuhei Yoshida refutes rumors that PlayStation will stop PC ports, citing cost benefits and industry trends. He sees no strategy shift for single-player games.
© E. Vartanyan
Former Sony Interactive Entertainment president Shuhei Yoshida has weighed in on rumors that PlayStation might stop releasing its single-player games on PC. According to him, those claims are unfounded, and he sees no signs of a strategy shift in the current generation.
Yoshida noted that porting games to PC brings clear benefits to Sony. In particular, it helps offset some development costs, as sales typically get a boost after launching on new platforms. He stressed that these releases do not significantly affect console or game sales within the PlayStation ecosystem.
He also highlighted the economic side: developing new projects is getting more expensive, while porting existing games is much cheaper. Modern platforms share similar architectures, making porting easier. Exceptions include devices like Nintendo's new consoles and Valve's solutions.
Yoshida also touched on the issue of rising AAA budgets, calling the current trend potentially unsustainable. In his view, the industry will need to find a balance to keep investing in big projects viable.
On game design, he noted that modern games are becoming too long, which can turn away part of the audience. If a game demands too much time, some players simply skip it.
He also emphasized that multiplatform releases are now the norm in the industry. Launching games first on PC may benefit developers: the platform allows early access, refining the game, and then releasing a more polished version on consoles.
As an example of effective PC ports, Death Stranding 2: On the Beach saw a noticeable sales increase after its PC release, surpassing 2 million copies, while shortly after launching on the new platform, it had sold about 425,000 copies.