Sony president and PlayStation chairman Hiroki Totoki was asked in a Q&A session following Sony's latest financial results briefing why the game division is seeing an increase in gross income but not profits and what the company could do to improve its bottom line. Totoki said that there are two key areas he wants to focus on in this regard: hardware and first-party games.
Hardware is in a tough place, as Totoki notes that "cost reduction in this console cycle is really difficult to come by", which doesn't sound like we can expect discounts in that department anytime soon. He mused: "How can we, given the situation, put our product lines together to make it affordable, without relying on steep discounts, to reasonably sell them to continue our commercial journey on a sustainable basis?"
The solution, it seems, is taking Sony's first-part titles "multi-platform", by which Totoki appears to mean PC specifically. He explains: "In the past, we wanted to popularise consoles, and a first-party title's main purpose was to make the console popular". Times are changing, however, which the PlayStation chairman acknowledges, and it appears that Sony is prepared to change with them, elaborating:
"This is true, but there's a synergy to it, so if you have strong first-party content – not only on our console but also other platforms, like computers – a first-party [game] can be grown with multi-platform, and that can help operating profit to improve, so that's another one we want to work on proactively. I personally think there are opportunities out there for improvement of margin, so I would like to go aggressive on improving our margin performance."
While not a first-party studio (yet), developer Arrowhead Game Studio''s latest, Helldivers 2, was published by Sony and released simultaneously on PS5 and PC last week and appears to have been an unexpected success. Here's hoping the firm learns a thing or two for a first-party release and allocates sufficient network infrastructure the next time a game goes day and date.
Are you surprised to see the PC-friendly direction Sony is headed? Are you tempted to play PlayStation games on PC over your PS5? Let us know in the comments section below.
[source sony.com, via videogameschronicle.com]
Comments 42
I personally would not have too many issues with PlayStation Games releasing day on day on the PC. More people that play the games, the better and hopefully it would have a positive effect on finances. I would stick to owning a PlayStation console as long as they are made for my own personal gaming experiences however.
I can see a lot of future use of AI and outsourcing to cheaper labor countries to cut down on ballooning game budgets.
It's outstanding how much his statements blown out of proportion about first party games releasing on computers.
Now a lot of people are saying that PS Studios games will release on Nintendo and Xbox consoles.
Some people are getting Sony about to release all their games on pc day and day from this is dumb. Sony obviously will release some games day an day on pc like live services games and remasters. But aaa new single player games will continue to release exclusive on ps5.
The problem with day and date releases is needing more resources to develop for multiple systems.
I have no problem games that are online focused to be multiplatform on day one. Even if it means to be brought to Xbox too. But they need to support full crossplay.
Yeah nobody knows what this new aggressive PC release strategy is exactly. It could just be the day and date live service strategy they've just started with Helldivers 2 and maybe they could shorten the ports to 6 to 12 months or something, either way I don't really care if they are day one on PC.
@kazuyamushima Yeah Hiroki didn't clarify properly but he obviously means PC, Mobile and Cloud. The actual Sony CEO said this just 3 weeks ago.
Kenichiro Yoshida:
"PlayStation will remain our core product, we will expand our gaming experiences to PC, mobile, and cloud.”
@kazuyamushima "PS Studios games will release on Nintendo and Xbox consoles"
Based on what he is saying I don't see why not? If his goal is to make maximum profit and that's his driving force then he should also port to the new Switch and Xbox, again if he's only thinking of profits which it sounds like he is 🤷
@AdamNovice not entirely. Pretty much every game out there is developed on a PC, then ported to the target consoles. They make continuous adjustments to both throughout the dev cycle side by side.
That’s why all game dev studios have so many PC’s.
Do doing both PS5, and PC dev wouldn’t change s as thing.
They would simply be releasing the PC build that they already had on hand.
Legitimate concern you have there. However it wouldn’t change anything, since that’s how it’s done already.
@11001100110zero this is a false statement. The games aren’t ported to console after PC and anyone saying this are clueless on how game development works. Porting insinuates that the game was running on windows and than ported to console so it should easily work back to windows. That is false. Games are developed on developers kits that are more akin to an optimized console. They’re not PC.
Removed - flaming/arguing
@11001100110zero I’m very chilled. Just pointed out the false information and the certainty you used to express it. No one likes to admit when they’re wrong just part of life though. I’ve been wrong plenty of times and I’m sure I’ll be wrong again.
Sony's been pretty transparant about live-service and their SP. Lot of misinfo. In the Sony fiscal reports they expected this year to have their biggest revenue on PC and.
Not suprised, HFW coming soon and GoW:R will hit it's 2nd year mark on console. Also Helldivers 2, Concord and Marathon (if its before march 2025) are day and date. + Titles like Until Dawn and maybe other back catalogue IPs alongside PS+.
They need to get rid of the stupid playstation account requirement for games like Helldivers 2 or don't bother doing this, i should not be required to make a third party account to play a game purchased on steam.
PC gamers always end up on top
I don't see day and date in this for all Sony titles - as per previous statements I can see live service day and date and shorter windows (no doubt restricted by required dev time) for PC ports of the main first party titles - maybe within a year of release, every title.
I don't care. I game on my ps5 and I have friends who only game on PC. It's a moot point as I can play cross play online with them. Whys it so bad if sonys games launch on PC simultaneously?
Yeah I suspect the timeframe between PS5 and PC will be a lot shorter than it is currently. Day and date on the live service games.
Really interesting few years ahead.
@Northern_munkey because those resources that were used towards a PC port could have gone solely towards the PS development only, which in turn would make a better product imo. Having to develop a game with multiple configurations in mind takes resources and time. One could argue that the single player PS exclusives throughout the generations would not have been the same games had they been multiplatform. Developers like Rockstar are the exception imo, but they are probably much larger than any of PS's studios. Maybe I'm wrong, but I feel like if single player 1st party games dropped day 1 on PC too, their quality would diminish because of having to spread their resources around more
I left PC because of the state of some really atrocious port efforts. In fact, they're getting worse and worse by the day. You either need a high end PC to brute force whatever issue you might have to run X game (and sometimes not even this is enough) or you need to be lucky and not have a garbage port delivered to you. For every Lies of P, there's a Jedi Survivor, Wild Hearts and Hogwarts Legacy coming at you together. I just don't have the patience anymore. PC players are treated like crap and this won't change that soon, if at all. The frustration of buying a game and watching it run with multiple stutters or framerate drops and then watching the same game running smoothly on a console that is definitely weaker than your rig is indescribable. I'm glad i jumped ship. From now on, PC is only for indies and simple AA games
@AdamNovice So what?
Helldivers 2 was released on PC day one and it hit 200k concurent on Steam. There is no way that those players didn't pay for port and added into ROI.
Removed - unconstructive
You know, some good news for Ps5 owners will be nice for a change. Just a thought, Sony.
@Tecinthebrain depending on what Microsoft announces today. If certain titles do get ported to PlayStation like Sea of Thieves. I bet Sony will be watching sales figures. As I guess Minecrafts sales on all platforms was a catalyst to whatever strategy Microsoft announces today.
I think we all knew it would get to this point eventually. They'll eventually be releasing games day one on PC. Until then, the gaps between releases will continue to shrink over time.
I'm all for it. No reason to buy a PS5, since I already have a decent PC and a Steam Deck to play these games on. And, thankfully, I'll be able to play their online games without being charged an exorbitant extra yearly charge.
When Ms announced this 4 years ago every one said why bother owning a Xbox at all then just get a PC, I don't see the same sentiment here
It's just obvious that sooner or later, first-party games will be transformed into "timed exclusives."
Dev budgets are ballooning like crazy and you can't just ignore 50 million Xbox owners and ***** of PC gamers that could buy your game and bring you higher ROI.
We are living in age when Insomniac had to sell 7,2 million copies of Spider-Man 2 at full price just to break even. And since new CEO of PlayStation is financial guy, I fully expect him to chase as high ROI as possible.
Just imagine world where Xbox will port their games on PlayStation 12 months after release and Sony will do the same with their games. Both companies would fight on merits of hardware and services. Wouldn't be world a better place?
After everything some users have said on here this last week about team green, the mental gymnastics over this is going to be hilarious.
It's the way the industry is headed, their earnings report told you everything you need to know, their current business plan is unsustainable and changes need to be made and fast.
I hope all the PS5 owners that are indifferent about the idea of day and date PC releases understand the consequences of what these actions will bring:
@truerbluer Lol. Why would be a development time longer? Like I get that optimising game for PC takes a time, but sales will be way higher so you can put more people on the project. Sony even has Nixxes (PC port studio) that can be thrown from project to project to optimise PC versions before release.
Same for "games will be worse." Spider-Man 2 was pretty buggy (for standard of PS Studios games) and it was PS5 release only.
And that "build around PS5 SSD" argument is just laughable. You know that PC currently boasts way higher transfer speeds for SSD then PlayStation 5, right?
And I mean, yeah. PC version will probably be cheaper and won't require PS Plus for online play. But I don't understand why it is a problem. You have choice - spend less on hardware (console), but pay more for online play and games or spend way more on hardware and pay less for game with free online.
Remember when "Only on PlayStation" phrase was a thing?
As someone who moved to PC this gen, I'd happily buy Sony's games if they released day one as opposed to a full year or more. Especially if they want to sell them at full price.
@Godot25 "Why would be a development time longer? Like I get that optimising game for PC takes a time"
You just answered your own question. Even if the console release is ready, would you rather they hold off just to get the PC version up to snuff?
"Sony even has Nixxes (PC port studio) that can be thrown from project to project to optimise PC versions before release."
Nixxes is a small studio, it's simply unfeasible for them to work on every project. That's why other outside studios like Iron Galaxy were brought in to port Naughty Dog's games to middling/poor results and required multiple patches over time to get up to an acceptable standard.
"Same for "games will be worse." Spider-Man 2 was pretty buggy (for standard of PS Studios games) and it was PS5 release only."
And you think adding more platforms to the mix won't amplify this? If you thought SM2 was buggy on one platform it's only going to get worse with simultaneous PC releases.
"And that "build around PS5 SSD" argument is just laughable. You know that PC currently boasts way higher transfer speeds for SSD then PlayStation 5, right?"
I specifcially mentioned low-mid range PCs that don't use comparable SSD speeds. Even so the number of games on PC that require SSD for DirectStorage is a tiny handful and every Digital Foundry comparison has shown PS5 handily beating PC when it comes to loading speeds.
"And I mean, yeah. PC version will probably be cheaper and won't require PS Plus for online play. But I don't understand why it is a problem."
It's a problem because with simultaneous PC releases PS5 owners are no longer getting the 1st class treatment expected from a platform holder. They no longer get the games early and are being fleeced for more money for a lesser experience. You can ask Xbox owners how they feel about their games going multiplatform to gauge a similar response as Xbox console owners.
@truerbluer
If you expect Nixxes to be responsible for bigger workload because you want to port your games on PC day one, you can just staff it up accordingly. "Studio is too small" is just stupid excuse. Especially since releasing your game on PC will bring you way way way more sales. Just look at Helldivers 2.
Spider-Man 2 was buggy, because Sony forced it to release in october, because Insomniac exceeded budget and all marketing (and release of PS5 Slim) was tied to release of that game. If PC was supposed to be released day one, then they would obviously throw more people into mix during development to have both versions ready...duh?
Devs are setting hardware requirements. If they want to do stuff with their game that needs to use XYZ GB/s transfer speeds, they can just put "NVMe gen 4." in requirements. Pretty simple if you ask me. Loading times in PC version are usually slower, because not many devs are using DirectStore, which will be resolved as time passes.
Xbox gamers don't care in slightest that they have to pay to play online in Sea of Thieves while PC players don't need to. Because , they can burn through 1000$ to build a PC instead buying 450$ console if they want to. It's about choice. You know what consequences, advantages and disadvantages each choice has. Yeah, they bitched about it at first, but now they don't care.
We can talk about it more, but facts are that console market is stagnant, and currently PS5 is on pace to not even sell as many consoles as PS4 did. And development costs are ballooning. Sony knows that, Microsoft knows that. Nintendo doesn't care currently because they are not making graphically intensive games, so they don't cost that much to develop.
It's pretty clear that 115 million PS owners is absolute roof that Sony can count on. They need to have PC audience if they want to throw 300 million dollars into development of one game whether you like it or not.
The industry is better this way. I'm glad sony is opening up to the idea of multiplatform.
Nintendo is the only one that does consoles right anymore. Both Xbox and Sony refuse to support their own consoles with true exclusives. This is because making games with ludicrous levels of detail just costs too much money. So they stab their core playerbase in the back by releasing on PC. Then they continue to stab their playerbase in the back by shoving microtransactions for things that should have been included for free.
I buy a Nintendo game and I have the entire game minus a dlc pack that comes out a year later.
They need to stop focusing on making AAAA level games and go back to making AA and AAA games. Nintendo has proven time and time again that a game can be a blast and look amazing without cutting edge graphics.
I feel like we are seeing the complete and utter death of competition among console manufacturers here. Microsoft gave up around 2012 and has been slowly dragging the world into a bland all digital all multiplatform world ever since. Less and less good first party titles were made by MS and in turn Sony has really slowed down the releases of 1st party content on PS5.
I'm also amazed at how many people walking around with $1000 phones, driving $500 a month SUVs, and buying $2000 flatscreens somehow think a game being exclusive to a $500 console "keeps them from playing it". The only thing keeping you from playing it is your own idiotic budgeting.
Nobody needs a $1000 phone or a $70 a month phone bill. The average car payment is $500 a month but that's only because way too many people drive an SUV and an F150 for 70k each. You can get a brand new Sedan for as little as 24k. A 40 inch flatscreen from five feet away looks better than a 65 inch that you mounted above your fireplace. Reddit.com/r/TVtoohigh.
You know what would increase profit margins better than releasing games on PC? Not wasting 3.6 billion buying Bungie. A dev that has made one good game in the last decade. Not wasting Naughty Dogs time on multiplayer game and endless remasters would help too.
But no. Let's just increase the cost of PSN and release more games to PC. Our core playerbase will happily pay to correct our boneheaded decisions.
@Jay767 Who told you this?
God of War confirmed for Xbox.
Day and date will kill PlayStation just like it killed Xbox. The mystique of having your own console with true exclusives will always be the highest $$$ path but you gotta have some serious fortitude and it appears Sony is finally losing it.
Shout out to Nintendo for not trying to fix what ain't broke. I don't know what Sony wants from us at this point, we've supported FIVE generations of consoles, all wildly successful, we buy the exclusives, we support everything and all we've gotten is fewer games and mounting threats that our outstanding support isn't enough!
All things considered, the future does seem to be the death of exclusive titles. Microsoft will simply lead the charge because they have to, but Sony will follow suit eventually.
I don't like this future as it also implies a "PC-fication" of consoles, but the industry is clearly heading towards an unsustainable state, so things need to change.
There's just no point in fighting or denying reality... And if things do change in a way one does not enjoy, there's always a new hobby.
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...