Sluggish PS5 game sales on PC: Will Sony reconsider its porting strategy?

Whispers are growing louder that Sony Interactive Entertainment is reconsidering its initiative to bring blockbuster, narrative-driven PlayStation exclusives—such as God of War, The Last of Us, and Marvel’s Spider-Man—to the PC platform. While no official statement has been issued, a consensus is forming among several prominent industry insiders that the era of these high-profile ports may be nearing its end.

Speaking on the Triple Click podcast, Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier remarked, “The impression I’m getting is that they’re retreating from releasing their core console exclusives—specifically the traditional single-player titles—on PC. I suspect that trend is over.” Schreier specifically identified the upcoming Marvel’s Wolverine as a prime candidate for a title that may never bridge the gap to Windows. He later clarified on the ResetEra forum that these observations were “not speculation,” but based on internal insights.

John Linneman of Digital Foundry shared a similar outlook. “I have a strong suspicion they are pulling back from PC. Keep an eye on this,” Linneman noted recently. He suggested that under current management, the PC market has lost its luster as a priority, with the company refocusing its energy on the console experience.

The sentiment is widespread. Jez Corden of Windows Central, typically known for his Microsoft-centric reporting, mentioned months ago that reliable sources indicated PlayStation was scaling back its PC ambitions. Similarly, the leaker Nate the Hate shared on X that the decision to pivot away from single-player PC releases was finalized last year.

Image: Sucker Punch Productions/Sony Interactive Entertainment

It is important to note that this strategic retreat does not appear to affect Sony’s live-service portfolio. Titles designed for ongoing engagement will maintain their multiplatform presence. Helldivers 2 remains a juggernaut on Steam, even expanding its reach to Xbox, while Bungie’s Marathon is slated for a simultaneous launch across PC and consoles this week.

However, if Sony is indeed distancing its premier single-player experiences from the PC, it marks a significant departure from the current industry trend. While Microsoft has fully embraced a cross-platform identity, Sony seems to be moving in the opposite direction. The catalyst for this shift appears to be simple: outside of a few outliers, PlayStation’s PC ports aren’t hitting the expected sales targets.

Both Schreier and Corden alluded to this, suggesting the releases “didn’t move the needle” for the company. A report from Alinea Analytics supports this, indicating that while total revenue from Steam has reached approximately $1.5 billion, the massive success of Helldivers 2 (with 12.7 million sales) obscures the declining performance of Sony’s traditional library.

Image: Insomniac Games/Sony Interactive Entertainment

Market data shows that sequels like Horizon Forbidden West, God of War Ragnarök, and Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 have struggled to replicate the success of their predecessors on Steam. The numbers tell a story of diminishing returns: Marvel’s Spider-Man peaked at over 66,000 concurrent players in 2022, while its sequel barely cleared 28,000. God of War Ragnarök likewise saw less than half the peak activity of its 2018 predecessor.

When compared to third-party heavyweights, the discrepancy is even more glaring. While Sony’s first-party titles rarely break the 80,000 player mark, third-party releases like Resident Evil Requiem recently peaked at a staggering 344,214 players on Steam. The delay between console and PC releases seems to be the primary culprit; by the time these games arrive on Windows, the hype has often migrated to the next big thing.

Image: Shift Up/Sony Interactive Entertainment

Interestingly, Stellar Blade stands as a notable exception, achieving a peak of over 192,000 players last year. This suggests that the Steam audience may have different tastes than the core PlayStation demographic, favoring titles that deviate from Sony’s standard cinematic action-adventure template.

While Sony could potentially boost these numbers by adopting a “day-and-date” release strategy similar to Xbox, executives have remained firm in their refusal to do so. Protecting the prestige and sales of their proprietary hardware remains the top priority. If delayed ports aren’t generating sufficient revenue, it is a logical business move to keep those experiences exclusive to PlayStation to maintain the platform’s value—even if it leaves PC gamers in the cold.

Source: Polygon